Fake Kaspersky Anti-virus

A new type of virus has emerged. Given that many people use their cell phones to go online, hackers have created viruses that target phones. Although this isn't a widespread problem, people are highly wary of their phone contracting malware because for many people, their mobile devices are an important part of their lives. This fear opens the door for another type of virus to emerge. Computer viruses are a scary thing, and some hackers get their thrills from scaring people with fake viruses. This type of hack is called scareware. The fake Kaspersky Anti-virus app works as fake anti-virus protection and scareware all wrapped up into one download.

The fake Kaspersky Anti-virus was originally introduced to cell phone users who speak Russian. Using social engineering (a term that describes the ways in which hackers trick people into downloading viruses), hackers convinced cell phone users that they needed to download and install Kaspersky Anti-virus on their phones. Unfortunately, the software that they downloaded wasn't the real Kaspersky Anti-virus software.

What really downloaded was software that only pretended to scan the phone for viruses. Once the scan was complete, the software told the user that their phone was infected. This is the scareware part of the scam. Once the user is scared, the rest of the scam is easier to complete.

After being informed that the phone was infected, users were directed to download a premium version of Kaspersky Anti-virus get rid of the virus. Of course, this part of the software is where the scammer gets the users' money and the users get nothing in return.

This scam was discovered in early 2011 by an anti-malware researcher, Dinesh Venkatesan, who promptly reported it on his blog. Luckily, this software is in the early stages of development. If the word spreads quickly about the scam, it may become ineffective, forcing its developers to abandon the project. This could save many people from being scammed.

There are many scams like this that not only target cell phones, but computers as well. How do you protect your electronics and your wallet from scams like the fake Kaspersky Anti-virus software? First, don't click on pop-ups or ads that are displayed on cell phones or computer games. Next, don't click on pop-ups or ads while you are browsing the internet, even if the pop-up is telling you that your phone or computer is infected with a virus. Third, install a well-known anti-virus package from a trusted source to protect your phone from attacks. If your phone and computer are already protected, you won't be tempted to download a fake security application like the Kaspersky Anti-virus scam.

If you already have the fake software on your phone, it usually can be removed with a legitimate internet security software package.

Scams like the fake Kaspersky Anti-virus download are meant to prey on fear. Learn to recognize when scammers trying to goad you into downloading a virus, scareware or fake protection software and protect yourself so you won't be a victim.

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