What Is Scareware?
Scareware is a form of malware that uses social engineering to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat to manipulate users into buying unwanted software. Scareware is part of a class of malicious software that includes rogue security software, ransomware and other scam software that tricks users into believing their computer is infected with a virus, then suggests that they download and pay for fake antivirus software to remove it. Usually, the virus is fictional and the software is non-functional or malware itself.According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, the number of scareware packages in circulation rose from 2,850 to 9,287 in the second half of 2008. In the first half of 2009, the APWG identified a 585% increase in scareware programs. It is also known as "rogue scanner" software or "fraudware". Scareware and rogue scanners have become a multimillion-dollar scam business, and thousands of users fall for this online scam every month. Preying on people's fear and lack of technical knowledge, scareware products will bilk a person for $19.95, just by displaying a bogus screen of a virus attack.
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In October 2008, Microsoft and the Washington attorney general sued two Texas-based companies, Branch Software and Alpha Red. Those two companies are responsible for Registry Cleaner XP, a very common scareware program. In December 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated a restraining order against two companies in the United States, Innovative Marketing, Inc. and ByteHosting Internet Services. Scareware programs produced by those companies include DriveCleaner, WinAntivirus, ErrorSafe, WinFixer and XP Antivirus.
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* Accessing your credit card: scareware will deceive you into paying money for fake antivirus software.
* Identity theft: scareware will surreptitiously invade your computer and attempt to record your keystrokes and banking/personal information.
* "Zombie" your computer: scareware will attempt to take remote control of your machine to serve as a spam-sending zombie robot.
Effects Of Scareware:-
Scareware affects the user's computer in the following ways as described by us below:-* Accessing your credit card: scareware will deceive you into paying money for fake antivirus software.
* Identity theft: scareware will surreptitiously invade your computer and attempt to record your keystrokes and banking/personal information.
* "Zombie" your computer: scareware will attempt to take remote control of your machine to serve as a spam-sending zombie robot.
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