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Last month, the Federal Trade Commission prevailed in its effort to halt the sale of “scareware” by two companies, Innovative Marketing, Inc., and ByteHosting Internet Services, LLC. The FTC alleges that the companies engaged in deceptive sales tactics to promote fake anti-virus and anti-spyware products.
The companies are accused of setting up false advertising sites that offered users a free “security scan.” The scan, which was completely fake, indicated that visitors’ computers had been infected by viruses, spyware and illegal pornography. The visitors were then urged to buy the company’s products. According to the FTC, about a million US citizens were duped into purchasing the software products, which like the security scan, did nothing. The FTC’s injunction bars the companies from continuing to sell WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe, and XP Antivirus.
The FTC has frozen the assets of the two companies to provide refunds to customers who were victimized by the scam, and is seeking a permanent injunction against the two operations.
Spyware Remains A Significant Threat
The danger in incidents like this is that spyware, Trojans and malware do exist, and many of these malicious software programs can be loaded onto computers accidentally, or by users who don’t understand the implications of having spyware or other malware on their computers.
In addition to slowing down the performance of your computer, spyware, adware and malware can capture personal information or trick you into purchasing products you don’t need or that won’t help you protect your computer and its contents. There are legitimate anti-spyware and anti-malware products on the market today. XoftSpy SE at www.spywareblockers.org can detect more than 40,000 different spyware, adware and malware programs, and helps protect your personal information.
XoftSpy SE also helps prevent Trojan programs from being loaded onto your computer. Trojan programs can relay personal information to a third party, alter the security of your computer to permit a third party to access it, perform damaging actions, and make their removal difficult. Computers that have been compromised by a “backdoor kit” can be accessed and controlled by a third party for any number of purposes, including being used to generate spam and launch attacks against other computers.
Spyware, adware and malware are more than just nuisances. They can compromise the safety of your actions online, slow your computer down, clog your Internet connection, and cause harm to your computer and to others’ computers, all without your knowledge or consent. Being infected with malware isn’t really a question of “if” but only a question of when. Make sure your computer is protected with XoftSpy SE.
Photo Credit: Steve Woods
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