As reported by USA Today and PC World, a new variant of scareware is not only plaguing users by urging them to buy a rogue anti-virus software named “Total Security 2009″, but additionally locks them out of most of their applications (short of Internet Explorer) until they have bought the shady product.
But worst of all, even after being scammed out of $79.95 for a serial number and “activating” the aforementioned program, this does not get rid of the ransomware, as anti-virus maker Panda Security points out. For the time being, Panda Security provides some working serial numbers for this malware on the aforementioned web page.
Until the scamware purveyors revise their malicious software to no longer accept them, this might be an easier and cheaper way to unlock your computer again than being bilked out of close to 80 dollars, especially given the rather dubious nature of the whole scam. Otherwise the credit card information used in the scamware transaction could easily end up being abused by various entities on the dark(er) side of the Internet.
This scareware campaign comes only half a year after “promos” for something dubbed “FileFix Pro” were circulated, a scam that started out by encrypting files located in the victim’s PC’s My Documents folder which would then only be decrypted upon purchase of FileFix Pro.
What makes this breed of fear-based rogue products more insidious than other scareware, such as Virus Remover 2009, SpywareGuard 2008, XP AntiVirus and similar useless fake security products that claim your PC to be flooded with worms and viruses is that the user is locked out from his or her files. Any attempt to execute another application results in the display of a text balloon pitching the purchase of Total Security 2009 to you.
PandaLabs’ virus hunter Sean-Paul Correll believes that the scareware purveyors are becoming increasingly aggressive as a result of the rather large earnings potential, illegitimate and illegal as it may be, of this rather lucrative scam, netting “sales affiliates” up to six figures per month.
If you’d like our help in dealing with this or similar types of incidents, or if you would like to assure that you are properly protected against information security vulnerabilities, contact us today.
