Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/
One of the most confusing of the fraudware wave of viruses is the so-called XP Security Center. Even more than the XP Antivirus or XP Defender, this program seems to be part of your system. There are, however, telltale signs that this is not part of your Operating System.
First of all, the real Windows Security Center comes with your Windows Program. It is a legitimate security manager that is part of the Microsoft Windows Operating System. Its only job is to let you know if your firewall, your antivirus, and your automatic updates are turned on or off. That’s it! Since this is all it does, it will probably never need to be updated. If, for some reason, it does, it will never charge you money to do so. Also, in this case, you will only be directed to the Windows update page at Microsoft’s website, not some other website. It can also be deactivated, if you don’t care to use it. It also will never tell you that you are infected with a virus. Now let’s compare this to XP Security Center.
The first time you may encounter it, it will automatically download itself, without you asking. This is never a sign of a trustworthy program. Many people have noticed that the download icon is there, and scratched their heads, because they didn’t approve any downloads! Also, if you try to disable the XP Security Center, it keeps popping back up. This is a definite sign that it’s not part of your system. Disobedient programs have no place in an operating system!
The next thing it does is that it tries to charge you money for the “registered version.” Now, remember what was said about the real Security Center. It’s already on your computer, so you already have the registered version. Also, Microsoft will never, ever charge you to upgrade any of your Windows components. Unfortunately, some people have fallen for this scam. After the initial scare of being told that they’re infected, they get told that they can get the “registered version” at a 20% discount. First of all, this is a 20% discount from what price, exactly? To make matters worse, even at that, often people have had their credit cards charged for even more money, days after the fact! Sadly, more often than not, the money gets sent to somewhere in Russia, usually Moscow. What this ultimately means is that the fraud laws of the United States don’t apply, and there’s no way to get it back.
With these differences in mind, it’s plain to see the vast differences between the real Windows Security Center and the fake one. It’s simply this: The real one’s only job is to tell you if something is turned off or on. XP Security Center is only out to get you to part with your money. No one really wants to do that for something they already have, right?
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