Spyware Techie

Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program?

Published by Allen on June 17, 2008 09:02 am under Spyware Help

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Has this scenario happened to you?

Average Joe (a.k.a. Internet Victim) says:

“I kept getting pop ups that said that my computer has malware. Since I was eager to fix the problem, I clicked OK on the popup alert to get the solution. Because of the pop up, I ended up downloading a program that costs me about $60. Since I’ve downloaded the program, accessing e-mails or anything on my PC is not possible. I’ve tried emailing and even calling whoever the makers are several times to cancel the order but cannot get through to anyone. Now they have my credit card number and my computer is messed up. What do I do?”

Don’t get tricked by bogus anti-spyware programs.

Here are the dead giveaway signs you’ve been scammed by a rogue anti-spyware program or anti-registry cleaner:

Many rogue anti-spyware programs display pop up ads that may look like a Windows system alert, install malicious software (trojans or other types of malware) and repeatedly prompt the user to pay for the full-version of the program. Popups and alert messages may continue to come up even after running the repair or fix feature on the new spyware program.
The use of malicious Trojan horse programs to force installation and make rogue anti-spyware programs difficult to remove. Every installed software should be visible in the Windows “Add or Remove Programs” control panel and/or have its own “Uninstall” icon available in the program’s folder or in the Start Menu. If the user does not have the ability to uninstall the program throught conventional means, then the software is definetly a questionable utility.
Another red flag is after installing a rogue anti-spyware application is that it may disrupt normal computer functionalities like disable other programs or processes. Many rogue anti-spyware programs use Trojans and Remote Administration Tools (RATs) to allow remote hackers access to the user’s computer via the Internet and cause a shutdown or restart.
Rogue anti-spyware programs displays false positives with each computer scan as a way to alarm the user into purchasing the program. A false positive is a fake spyware detection in a computer scan.
Unauthorized bogus and/or illegal charges in a short period of time appear on the users credit card statements. Sometimes the rogue anti-spyware program will say on the purchase page a certain amount, then when the user buys the program it charges a different amount on the credit card. Eventually, the user will have to cancel the credit card that was used to purchase the malicious software.

To see what a rogue anti-spyware program looks like and how it behaves, check out the video below:

Anybody who has been scammed by a rogue anti-spyware program you’re not alone! Share your story and we can all learn from our mistakes. Which rogue anti-spyware program were you scammed by?

Post your comments below.

Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? Automatic Removal Instructions

Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? Manual Removal Instructions

This manual removal method is for techie computer users. Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? manual removal may be difficult and time consuming to remove. There’s no guarantee that Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? will be removed completely. So read the Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? removal steps carefully and good luck.

Before you start: Close all programs and Internet browsers. Also back up your computer in case you make a mistake and your computer stops working.

Uninstall Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? Program
Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Search for and uninstall Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? if found.
To stop Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? processes (view process removal steps)
Go to Start > Run > type taskmgr. The click the Processes tab and you’ll see a list of running processes.
Search and stop these Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? processes:
There are no processes.
For each unwanted process, right-click on it and then select “End task”.
To Unregister Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? DLLs (view DLL removal steps)
Search and unregister these Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? DLLs:
There are no dll's.

To locate the Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? DLL path, go to Start > Search > All Files or Folders. Type Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? and in the Look in: select either My Computer or Local Hard Drives. Click the Search button.
Once you have the Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? DLL path, go to Start and then click on Run. In the Run command box, type cmd, and then click on OK.
To locate the exact DLL path, type cd in order to change the current directory. To display the contents of the directory, use the dir command. To remove the DLL file type regsvr32 /u FILENAME.dll (FILENAME is the name of the file that you want to unregister).
To unregister Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? registry keys (view registry keys removal steps)
Go to Start > Run > type regedit > press OK.
Edit the value (on the right pane) by right-clicking on it and selecting the Modify option. Select the Delete option.
Search and delete these Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? registry keys:
There are no registry keys.
If your homepage has been changed, go to Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > click on the General > click Use Default under Home Page. Add the your desired default homepage, then click Apply > click OK. Open a new web browser to check that you have your desired default homepage.
Remove Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? Directories.
To find Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? directories, go to Start > My Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files > Show the contents of this folder.
Search and delete the following Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? directories:
There are no directories.

Right-click on the Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? folder and select Delete.
A message will appear saying ‘Are you sure you want to remove the folder Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? and move all its contents to the Recycle Bin?’, click Yes.
Another message will appear saying ‘Renaming, moving or deleting Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? could make some programs not work. Are you sure you want to do this?’, click Yes.
To remove Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? icons on your Desktop, drag and drop them to the Recycle Bin.

You’ve completed the Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? manual removal instructions!
I hope this article has helped you solve your Scammed by a Rogue Anti-Spyware Program? problems. If you want to contribute to this article, post your comment below.

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