How to Protect Yourself Against Fake Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus Scams

Sometimes you may get a message on your computer saying that is infected by some spyware or Trojan and that you need to get rid of it by clicking – don’t get taken in.

The other day I was sitting on my computer, doing work and had several web sites open. Suddenly I saw this pop-up window open saying that my computer was infected by a Trojan and that I should click to delete the file. Since I already have good, genuine anti-virus software on my computer, and it scans everyday and also offers real time scanning, I was disturbed. But then I checked the window and it was not from my software, so I quickly closed it. It was obviously an attempt to put a virus into my computer.

The worst thing

Almost all of us are everyday computer users and the threat of the viruses and spyware, Trojan and hijacking tools when online is very real. While this can compromise your safety, steal valuable documents from you computer, steal passwords and log-in ids, a good hacker can even erase the hard disk of your computer.

And sometimes these things are done in such a way that you may not even be aware of it. If your computer starts running very slowly, if people email you saying that they have received a virus via an email you sent (you never did that but all people in your address book automatically received it), if it starts hanging or even crashes, you surely have a problem on your hands.

What you can do

Never open attachments which your anti-virus has warned you against. Set your internet explorer or other browser settings to high security and install a firewall. Always install good anti virus and anti spyware software on your computer. And regardless of that, get a technical support from a software person who can use other software to clean your computer on a regular basis.

If you are downloading free anti-virus, anti-spyware or any other software do it from a reputable site and be very careful of pop-up windows offering free screensavers and other desktop ‘goodies’ – you never know which one will install stuff on your computer which can compromise its security. If you do want to install something check out its legitimacy and credentials via the internet before doing so.

In this case prevention is better than cure. But if you already have an infection in your computer you need to get it attended to by your friendly computer doctor!

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