What is ScareWare?
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 10/26/2016 1:00:00 AM
ScareWare is one of the biggest problems in the computer industry, but so many people have no idea what it is... or what to do about it.
If you're surfing the web, and all of a sudden a window pops up telling you that you've got some sort of problem or a virus on your computer, and it suggests that you click a button to remove it right away, what do you do?
When many people see a message like that, they immediately click the button to "remove" the problem. Unfortunately, they don't realize that the message is a complete fake. You don't actually have a virus. It's just "ScareWare", but if you are fooled into thinking it's real, and actually click the button to "fix" the problem, you are actually installing the real virus.
In some cases, they claim to be giving you a free tool to remove it, and in other cases they ask you to enter a credit card to "Activate" their (fake) anti-virus. Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD! Not only will they steal whatever the cost is for the fake anti-virus, but they will also steal your credit card #. In some cases, they will even put a phone number on the screen that you can call talk to a "Technician", but that technician is fake too, and his or her only goal is to get you to feel comfortable installing the virus, and to give them your card number and personal information.
To make matters worse, even if you realize it's a fake message, and you decide to click an abort or cancel button, there's a good chance that the cancel or abort button is fake too, and it will still try to install the virus. The only safe way to get rid of the message is to close the browser entirely. On a Mac, that's normally "Command-Q" or "Force Quit" from the Apple Menu in the top corner, on Windows try "Alt-F4" or use the Task Manager to force the browser to close.
If you are not sure of how to SAFELY get rid of the message, TURN OFF THE COMPUTER.
Although turning off the computer is normally frowned upon, it's still safer than accidentally installing the virus.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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