Watch out! Anti-Spyware installs Spyware 2

[2ffat]

According to this article:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Spyware/index.php?p=818&tag=nl.e539

the new "free" version of SpywareCleaner installs adware from WhenU.

James P. Cottingham
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[sup]I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229![/sup]

 

[Glenn9999]

I have seen this "trick" done before many times. But the article was helpful because I didn't know about SUPERAntiSpyware before. Got a copy to try now.

 

[theniteowl]

Be careful when looking for anti-spyware information and tools there are MANY web sites out there pushing bogus tools and utilities that infect you rather than cleaning your machine. There are plenty of bogus forum posts (everywhere, not picking on Tek-Tips) where someone will post a message and link advocating a specific tool/utility that is in fact bogus. When someone goes to a forum looking for help and get a message advocating a particular tool/utility they often download and try it out never considering the source of the info.

Most of us, even those very PC literate of us are only familiar with a handful of legitimate spyware software products but if you go Google spyware you will find HUNDREDS of products and web sites that you have never heard of before and you should probably be suspicious of them.
And if the name DOES sound familiar be cautious anyway.
Last time I went to download.com to grab a copy of SpyBot it brought up an advertisement that looked like a link for SpyBot. It had the words Search & Destroy and well as Spy Bot in the descriptive text but in a misleading way to make you think that was the actual app you were looking for.

This is not a comment on the above posts, I have not looked at the products mentioned, I just want to encourage everyone to second-guess everything they read and do a bit of research on any particular product before downloading or using it. It is common practice to seed the forums with bogus information so when someone DOES look up info on a particular product they first find info saying how great it is. Keep digging though, read a bunch of different posts/sites before taking action.


It's hard to think outside the box when I'm trapped in a cubicle.

 

[kjv1611]

Don't know if it will help any, as it is a forum link, but I did find this on the superantispyware:
[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.castlecops.com/p786759-SuperAntiSpyware_SAS.html[/url]

However, when I looked at the website (not the forum, but the program website), it does remind me of what a lot of the Adware-toting program sites look like. So, I would definitly agree with theniteowl - be careful with what you use. Do a lot of research, first, and be careful which sources you use for research - may even need to research behind them a little...

 

[sidmickmol]

Its easy to see how even people with some IT exerpience could be tricked by those ads at the top of the search results on download.com. I guess the cost of the site has to be paid somewhere. I was not however, aware of the people coming to forums like this and deliberately pushing their "questionable" Products here. I've seen some possible examples of this. I guess the key will be that these people push it repeatedly. I guess I'll stick with the few I know and trust. Unfortunately, my customers keep coming up with ones I haven't heard of on their own. They're amazed they found something I don't know about.

 

[karlisi]

I think, this site can help if you want to know if this is good or bad antispyware

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

===
Karlis
ECDL; MCSA

 

[sggaunt]

karlisi; I have seen that one before its an excellent site. Recomended.
It has only one fault, it dosnt mention this forum!


Steve: Delphi a feersum engin indeed.

 

[kjv1611]

Thanks for the link, karlisi!

 

[orypecos]

I like to take a look at

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,122496,pg,6,00.asp

when I have questions about spyware or other computer questions. They have a couple that have a TV show called Digital Duo that is very informative for those of us that aren't very 'computer literate'. U can watch vidio clips of it if you don't tape it off the local PBS affiliate at midnight on Mondays. (At least in my area, Denver) I am not connected to pcworld in anyway.