Skip to content

Scareware

  • by

scareware

Scareware is described as scamming software that indicates you have problems with your machine (that you do not), that the program can “fix” if you purchase this software. 

A healthy amount of these ‘scareware’ programs are actually malicious, and can install malware on your system.  Others are simply there to making you think you can greatly improve your system’s performance.  Make no mistake, these programs are scams 99% of the time.  Surprisingly the latest Flash Player update from Adobe actually installs one of these ‘Optimizing’ scareware programs.  The guys over at Zdnet actually ran the software on a system with a brand new installation of Windows 7 and the software reported to have 255 “problems”. 

Make no mistake, if you have a program, (that is NOT Windows) telling you there are massive problems with your computer it’s a scam.  Quickly close the program, and, if possible, uninstall the program via the control panel.  If you cannot find any way to remove the program and it will not go away, you may have been caught a malware version of scareware and you are now infected.  The most important thing to keep in mind in these situations is to NEVER provide your credit card information, as a majority of the time these programs come from fraudulent companies.

Now if you do end up with a malicious version of scareware you cannot remove from your computer there is no need to panic as long as you have not put in any credit card information.  Frankenstein Computers has some of the best (and QUICKEST) virus and malware removal in Austin and we love to help you out.

Frankenstein Computers has been taking care of our happy clients since 1999. We specialize in affordable IT Support, Cyber Security, IT Service, IT Security, Office 365, Cloud, VOIP, SPAM, Wireless, Network Design, MAC repair, PC Repair, Virus Removal, remote support, web design, on site support and much more. Check out what our clients have to say about us on Yelp!