Fake Antivirus Peddlers Helped by Microsoft
January 28, 2009 Computer News
A few weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission shut down two companies accused of selling fake antivirus 
software, up pops a new player into the market, aided by glitches in the Microsoft and U.S. Internal Revenue Web sites.
Over the past four days the scammers have used so-called redirector links on Web sites belonging to magazines, universities and, most remarkably, the Microsoft.com and IRS.gov domains.
Many Web sites use redirector links to take visitors away from the site, although the Web site operators try to stop them from being misused by scammers.
For example, the Google URL http://www.google.com/search?q=idg&btnI=3564 uses Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” feature to send Web surfers to IDG.com.
If criminals can use a redirector on a major Web site like Microsoft.com or IRS.gov, however, they can make their malicious links pop up very high in Google search results.
These criminals have tricked search engines into returning their malicious links to thousands of search terms. They do this by using special software to add these redirector links to blog comments, guestbook entries and imaginary blog stories all around the net.
The fake antivirus software, also called “scareware,” installs a keylogger on the victim’s computer, presumably to steal login names and passwords, and also launches fake warning pop-ups on every Web page that the victim visits telling him he needs to buy antivirus software, called System Security.
The FTC estimates that 1 million consumers were taken in by other fake antivirus products which go by names such as WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe and XP Antivirus.
On Dec. 10 a federal court ordered two companies, Innovative Marketing and ByteHosting Internet Services, to stop promoting these products.
