Posted by touhid | Posted in Security information | Posted on 21-10-2009
A new scareware campaign is putting a nasty twist to those online scams that try to frighten you into purchasing worthless antivirus protection.
PandaLabs virus hunter Sean-Paul Correll has discovered an attack that not only bombards you with obnoxious sales pitches – it also prevents you from opening any of your applications until you make a purchase. “It’s a major leap,” says Correll. “We have not seen this before.”
Six months ago, promos were being circulated for something called “FileFix Pro.” This particular scam began by encrypting files stored in the My Documents folder of the victim’s PC. Pitches would then follow to buy FileFix Pro to decrypt the files.
But this ongoing attack, promoting “Total Security 2009,” is much worse. It looks similar to the fear-based promos for Virus Remover 2009, SpywareGuard 2008, XP AntiVirus and other worthless security products, triggering fake scans showing your PC to be riddled with viruses. But it goes a step further by locking out access to all other applications. When you click on any other application a text balloon appears above the clock in the lower left corner of your desktop. You then get steered back to pitches to buy Total Security 2009.
Your machine is now unusable. You won’t be able to open Microsoft Office, your favorite online game, or even your antivirus clean up tools. The only thing you can open is Internet Explorer – so you can navigate to the Total Virus 2009 shopping cart page. There you can use Visa or MasterCard to pay $79.95 for a standard version. You may also opt to spend another $19.95 to purchase “premium” tech support services. Once the payment clears, you receive a serial number to activate TotalVirus. You can then open your other applications.
Correll surmises that scareware purveyors are becoming more aggressive because the lucrative scam – in which sales affiliates can earn six figure monthly incomes — may be getting saturated with practitioners. “They may not be making enough money, or maybe they want to make more money,” says Correll
