Scareware can be anywhere

Watch out for fake virus alerts

Scareware (also known as “rogue security software”) is a new breed of malicious software that pretends to be the good guy in the war against viruses and worms.

Scareware is any kind of fake software that appears to help protect your computer’s security, but instead generates misleading or annoying alerts and might attempt to trick you into paying money for a useless product. According to a recent article in USA Today, scareware is popping up in more and more places, including ads on popular Web sites, comments on YouTube and Twitter.

If you think you may have downloaded scareware, you can help protect your computer by using the Windows Live safety scanner or running the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool.

For more information, see Beware of rogue security software.