{"id":64,"date":"2007-11-19T08:27:53","date_gmt":"2007-11-19T15:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/2007\/11\/19\/internet-marketing-scams-claim-to-fix-your-computer\/"},"modified":"2023-12-14T07:05:35","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T15:05:35","slug":"internet-marketing-scams-claim-to-fix-your-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/internet-marketing-scams-claim-to-fix-your-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"Internet marketing scams claim to fix your computer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are thousands\u00a0of web sites\u00a0on the internet that\u00a0claim that their registry cleaner or anti-virus\/anti-spyware program will solve\u00a0your computer problems. Many of these programs are \u201csnake oil\u201d or scams that often\u00a0install additional unwanted spyware or trojan viruses and cause other problems to your computer. SpywareWarrior.com has compiled a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.spywarewarrior.com\/rogue_anti-spyware.htm\" rel=\"noopener\">comprehensive list<\/a> of some of the fake programs. Many of the programs give false warnings of problems with your computer and entice you to scan your computer for &#8220;free&#8221;. After the scan the programs often present a detailed list of more problems and offer to fix the problems for &#8220;only $39&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In summary, these programs are scams &#8211; and there were likely no problems with your computer before you came across the website that produced the pop-up advertisement. I first documented this problem in <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/2006\/03\/15\/watch-out-for-new-hoaxes-that-can-put-ransomware-on-your-computer\/\" rel=\"noopener\">March 2006<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Below are examples of\u00a0an indication\u00a0that you may already have\u00a0installed one of the scams&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-65\" href=\"http:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/2007\/11\/19\/internet-marketing-scams-claim-to-fix-your-computer\/drivecleaner-popup\/\" title=\"DriveCleaner popup\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/drivecleaner-popup.jpg\" alt=\"DriveCleaner popup\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The official-looking alert below is shown in the taskbar notification area, and is an indication that one of the fake programs\u00a0has already been installed on your computer.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-66\" href=\"http:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/2007\/11\/19\/internet-marketing-scams-claim-to-fix-your-computer\/fake-taskbar-notification-area-alert\/\" title=\"Fake Taskbar Notification Area alert\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/viruslocker_alert.jpg\" alt=\"Fake Taskbar Notification Area alert\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you see notices similar to the examples\u00a0above, I recommend contacting Computer Techs to have us remove all traces of the fake program, and any additional spyware that they usually install. While some\u00a0anti-spyware or anti-virus programs may detect the fake programs, many will not remove all of the remnants that the programs leave behind. We&#8217;ll also provide you with education on how to avoid installing these programs in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are thousands\u00a0of web sites\u00a0on the internet that\u00a0claim that their registry cleaner or anti-virus\/anti-spyware program will solve\u00a0your computer problems. Many of these programs are \u201csnake oil\u201d or scams that often\u00a0install additional unwanted spyware or trojan viruses and cause other problems to your computer. SpywareWarrior.com has compiled a comprehensive list of some of the fake programs. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computing-tips","category-scams","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3894,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions\/3894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computertechsreno.com\/tips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}