Fake anti-virus software traps millions
Yahoo!7
October 20, 2009, 11:52 am
Up to 43 million people could have given their bank details to cyber criminals after being duped by fake anti-virus software online, a web security firm has found.
Figures published by Symantec suggest 93 per cent of the people scammed downloaded the rogue programs by choice after being tricked into believing it was legitimate.
The company estimated that some cyber criminals are earning millions of dollars a year from the ruse.
Web users fall prey to the scam when they click on links, pop-ups or flashing adverts warning them their computer is infected.
The fake program then appears to run a virus check which tells the user their PC is infected and asks them to pay for it to be cleaned up.
But downloading the software can give criminals access to bank details and computer files.
Symantec found 250 rogue programs were downloaded 43 million times in the 12 months to July 2009.
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