Don't Fall Victim to Scareware

Thanks for the warning Bob.

I use Adblock Plus, it is certainly great for not seeing ads of any kind. would it also block this kind of pop up as I guess it is really an ad?

I've often wondered how that money cant be tracked back to the source and have these people shut down?

Bob...your article is exactly what Avast told me, and when I phoned, (India), they said they could fix it for 77.00. Just give them your credit card # and they will "climb inside" your computer and fix what is wrong. Thank heavens, I don't have one! That's why I was surprised about last weeks recommendation for Avast. I like the actual antivirus, but not the people to deal with.
Enjoy your newsletters.

Whoah just a minute. Now you ARE telling us to put in firewalls? Didn't you say a while back that these days routers are protected?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm guessing you didn't read the linked article "Do I Really Need a Firewall?"

Thank you for making and keeping people aware of 'scareware'. Several years ago before 'scareware' was common and I was anything but computer savvy I responded to a 'scareware' WARNING. Unfortunately it advised me my system was compromised in 12 ways to Sunday. When I ran the free scan it was kind enough to deposit a virus which ultimately froze my system. At the time I was using an old old lap top which could barely operate smoothly with Windows XP so it took me awhile to figure out I had done something very stupid.

Once you do this and have the joy of reformating your hard drive and reloading an operation system without the proper system tools or information and knowledge you become acutely aware of the nightmares lurking online. It taught me a lot about computers and operations systems but it wasn't how I wanted to learn.

Even today sometimes I think I take things for granted and continue to be vulnerable to this kind of nightmare. So again, thank you for keeping this in front of all our faces to help us NOT to forget what is lurking just at the edge of our online world that is waiting to bite us on the ass in so many different ways.

I got an unspecified error 0x80004005 which is a legit code. I googled and got the scam website with the same result of 2500 errors. I got away quick.

Oddly enough, when I did the free PC Matic scan I got similar results. I purchased it and one month later, after assuring me I was protected, I got a virus that morphed and destroyed my laptop along with peace of mind. I no longer use them. I've used other programs you've suggested and am having good results. Thanks for the info/updates.

Following your article on Scareware I downloaded & installed Comodo System Cleaner. It opened scanning, found a few things that needed fixing. When I pressed "Fix", a new screen told me I had to "Upgrade" to "enjoy" getting the problems fixed.

This in itself is scareware and I really resent being sucked in by "FREE" software claims. I "Xed" out and removed the program with my favorite uninstaller - Revo Uninstaller

EDITOR'S NOTE: Seems that the Comodo has yanked System Cleaner as a standalone tool, and the link now goes to Comodo PC Tuneup, a paid product. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

& all of that put together is:
scamware..

DLL Suite...I ran into this when researching an error that was ultimately traced back to ANOTHER "maintenance" program (Powersuite by Uniblue) removing "unused programs" without a comprehensive listing or the ability to pick and choose what they delete. They removed a DLL that is critical for operation of HP printers.

DLL Suite found over 400 "missing DLLs" on the preliminary scan...and of course, these can ONLY be fixed by buying their product. Turns out most of the "missing" DLLs were actually for older versions of Windows (which was readily visible in the file path included in the error message) or weren't really missing...they are just stored elsewhere in Windows 7. The relevant, really missing print DLL is available via Windows Fixit tool. Needless to say, I advised the friend I was helping to stay away from this type of "helpful" software (and also to seriously reconsider the use of Powersuite).

Hi Bob - Here is a little tip for windows users every morning as soon as my computer has booted up I create a restore point before I do anything else. Its a very simple thing to do. (IE DG04) being my initials and the date of the actual day.

This small task which takes only a couple of minutes to do has saved my bacon more times than I can count. If you get a nasty problem just run the restore and you are back to your computer purring like a spoilt pussy cat. Regards David

Thanks for your very useful information, Bob. You have saved me from many a scam before, but this notice came a day late, after I paid the $29.95 to Driverupdate that claims that it is Microsoft Gold Certified. It appears to have done the updating as claimed, but I can never be sure that I had the problem in the first place.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kind of like going to the auto mechanic, and he says "You need new brake pads, a pressure control valve, and a radiator flush." If you're not savvy about car stuff, you'll never know.

I just used PrivaZer and found it to be as reported totally free (unless you would like to donate) which I did because the program is fantastic and did a wonderful job cleaning up my computer system and leaving me with a LOT of extra space! I thought I had a problem after I had scanned my computer and so I went to their support site and asked for help, I could not believe the turn around time, someone actually got right back with me! I found out before they did that the problem actually had nothing to do with the scan but my browser and I fixed that, however it was very comforting to find that someone will be there to help if anything should ever come up! Highly recommend PrivaZer and thank you Bob for the heads up! Very Grateful.