Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/
Ever had something called Antivirus XP 2008 pop up on your computer and tell you it wants to help you out? Sure looks official, doesn't it? I'm afraid it's not! Here are a few things you should know about it.
It's not legitimate. It's nothing but a fraudulent piece of software. It won't take viruses from your computer. It won't take spyware or adware off of your computer. It won't even give you the courtesy of a spell-check!
Antivirus XP 2008 serves no other purpose than to make money for its creators. They've spent a lot of time making it look official. They've spent a lot of time making sure it will do things to make you think you're infected (more on that in a minute).
For all the effort they put into faking people out, they might as well have just made something that actually works. It just goes to show you nasty the mindset of some people!
It's not an anti-virus program. It won't cure anything. And those alerts it's giving you, saying it's detected malicious software? Don't trust them. It's possible that this antivirus is the only malicious software on your computer.
But there's another, worse possibility.
Antivirus XP 2008 may have let other threats into your computer. It often acts as a Trojan horse, connecting to malicious websites to download yet more fake antispyware onto your computer.
It could also have come in a bundle with various kinds of spyware, the kinds that can steal your email login, and even your bank info! Spyware is used in all kinds of bank account and identity theft. You definitely don't want any on your system!
These programs can also foul up your computer so much, that you can't even run Windows anymore. At the very least, they'll slow down your computer. At the very most, they'll steal your information, then wreck your operating system!
This is one reason why it's so important to get some quality anti-virus software on your computer as fast as you can, once you've noticed fake software has wormed its way onto your hard drive.
You may pay more than you bargained for. Many people who have been fooled into buying this product have reported that they were billed twice for a single transaction. What's worse is that some of them were billed from MOSCOW, Russia. It's not exactly a place you can send the Better Business Bureau.
Of course once these criminals had their victims' bank information, they could do anything that they pleased with it. If you have been fooled into buying it, don't feel bad--just make sure you cancel that piece of plastic!
Antivirus XP 2008 can wreck your computer. It will do this in an attempt to freak you out about your computer being infected. One of the most insidious things it does is lock you out of Control Panel and My Documents. This can be disastrous for anybody who uses a computer for work or school!
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