Fake PC Virus Scams – Be On Your Guard!

I have been hearing an increasing number of reports of these scams, which can cause a great deal of distress, particularly to the more vulnerable. They can be picked up from supposedly ‘safe’ websites which may have been hacked themselves. I apologise in advance if this scares anybody, but this is not an urban myth. This really happens and I personally have dealt with a number of instances, just within people I know. An awareness of the problem, and how to deal with it could save a great deal of misery as well as money.

There are currently two main variants of these scams:

1) Fake Anti-Virus Alerts

This is currently the most common one. This takes the form of a window which pops up on your PC screen and looks like it is a genuine virus alert, warning that you have a number of serious security issues on your PC. The title is misleading as it may show as ‘Windows Security Center’ (there are other similar titles you may see, such as ‘XP Security Tool 2010’, ‘XP Defender Pro’, ‘Vista Security Tool 2010’, and ‘Vista Defender Pro’ – these are all actually imposters). You may also see messages such as the following:

The natural reaction is to click on the ‘Scan’ button, or the message itself, in order to run a scan or update your virus protection. However, what this will actually do is take you to a web site which will tell you just how badly your PC is infected, and try to get you to buy their software to remove the infection. However THIS IS A SCAM. The only infection you are likely to have is the fake virus alert itself. You may well end up installing some sort of program, but it is actually more likely to cause you harm than good, as well as costing you money.

What to do: If you see a message such as this one, immediately click on the ‘X’ in the top-right hand corner to close it, then ensure your own anti-virus is fully updated and run a full scan yourself. In some cases, the virus can actually hijack your anti-virus, so it is important to do this as soon as the message appears, and DO NOT CLICK ON THE MESSAGE. It may be necessary to install a piece of software such as MalwareBytes Anti-Malware which is free and can be effective at killing this type of virus. There are also a number of websites which provide instructions for removing the virus, but if you are not comfortable doing this yourself, then I would recommend seeking professional help immediately.

In my experience, if the warning is repeatedly ignored, the symptoms increase, leading to symptoms such as blocking your internet access, the appearance of threatening messages on your screen, losing all your files and icons on your desktop, and even stopping you logging on to your PC at all. At this stage, a full reinstall of Operating System and software may be the only safe way to recover. It may still be possible to recover your files, although this might not be straightforward.

2) Telephone Anti-Virus Scam

I have heard a couple of instances of this particularly cruel scam recently. They can be received by anybody at all, I have even heard of a PC technical helpline receiving the call. It works as follows:-

A phone call is received stating that a virus has been detected on your PC, and that the caller (allegedly from Microsoft, or McAfee, Norton or some other reputable techie company) can remove the virus if you allow them to access your PC. They can be very convincing and forceful. They then ask you to provide access from somewhere like ‘LogMeIn.com’ to allow them to access your PC remotely. Once they are on your PC, they pretend to ‘remove’ the virus which was never there in the first place, then they try to charge you £185 for this removal and 2 year’s on-going ‘support’ (they will reduce the cost for a single year if you haggle!). They will even take card payment over the phone. I know of a person in Whimple who paid the money after being subjected to hard-selling techniques. I advised him to cancel the credit card immediately, and his PC was rebuilt completely to remove all traces of the scammer’s actions. It is entirely possible that sensitive information has been taken, or other viruses installed whilst they were on the PC. However, the embarrassment of being taken in by such a ruse can sometimes be even worse than the financial loss. In this case they even had the cheek to call back the next day to talk him into extending his ‘cover’. Another Whimple person reported that they realised something was wrong and luckily managed to shut down their PC before the caller could access it.

With this remote access scam, it is always difficult to know exactly what has been done to your PC, and the only safe way to fully recover from this is a total reinstall of your Operating System and software.

I myself sometimes use remote access software to provide remote PC support, as it can be the most quick and convenient way to sort out issues. But the bottom line is NEVER ALLOW ANYBODY TO REMOTELY ACCESS YOUR PC IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THEM, FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER!

We are all at risk of PC Viruses, but there are a few things you can do to minimise the pain:

- ENSURE YOU HAVE ANTI-VIRUS INSTALLED, and KEEP IT UP TO DATE (there are a number of free programs which do a good job)

- BACK UP YOUR VALUABLE DOCUMENTS REGULARLY – to CD, DVD, External Drive etc

- BE SUSPICIOUS – if you receive a call which sounds dodgy, it probably is.

Stay safe