Cyber dudes sell fake software...Nahhhh

April 1, 2009

Cybercriminals manipulate search engines to sell fake software. According to research cited by BBC News, some cybercriminals could be earning as much as $10,000 a day by deceiving users into downloading their fake security software. Finjan, a computer security firm, reported new research that shows many cyber criminals continue to use so-called “scareware” to trick Web surfers into believing their computer is infected with a virus. Fraudsters use deceptive pop-up advertisements to convince users to buy their fake anti-virus software. “They are misleading people with evidence that their machine is infected with viruses and they are encouraging them to download and buy software that basically does nothing,” said the chief technology officer at Finjan. In order to reach susceptible Web users, the cybercriminals manipulate Web searches to direct them to the site where they are informed of a fake computer infection. In March 2009, the Anti-Phishing Working Group counted 9,287 fake anti-malware programs being sold on the Web in December 2008. That number accounted for a 225 percent increase since January 2008.