Fake antivirus software often doesn’t offer a trial period, installs itself, and displays pop-up windows. Genuine antivirus software offers a trial period before requiring payment. Fake software demands payment immediately and claims to find many viruses. Scareware tries to trick you into paying for a program. Fake antivirus software may not have an obvious “Uninstall” option.
Fake antivirus software usually doesn’t offer a trial period, sometimes installs itself, and often pretends to be your operating system by displaying pop-up windows. Some fake programs are sophisticated enough to use trial periods, but most want your money now rather than giving you weeks to figure out the scam. If you don’t remember installing the program, it may have installed itself. Displaying pop-ups that try to look like your operating system pop-ups is another trick that is used to get people to pay for the product. Also, a good antivirus program will allow you to uninstall it, but a fake one may not even give you that option.
To better detect fake antivirus software, you should understand how real antivirus protection programs work. In general, genuine antivirus software offers users a trial period, usually about a month, before requiring them to purchase the program. On the other hand, a fake antivirus program usually demands payment immediately after installation. Fake software sometimes claims to find dozens or even hundreds of viruses on your computer. Following this “discovery”, it displays messages that appear urgent, usually saying that you have to pay a certain amount of money to remove the viruses.
If you don’t remember installing an Internet security program, be careful. The name might sound similar to reputable antivirus software, but it might have installed itself. To be safe, do not open the program by clicking its icon or responding to its pop-ups. Run your antivirus program to search for and uninstall the intruder one. Fake antivirus software is sometimes difficult to uninstall, so you may need special programs, depending on the type of virus.
Another name for fake antivirus software is scareware. Scareware is basically software that tries to trick you into thinking that your computer is compromised or much slower than normal. Then, you are asked to solve these “problems” by paying for a program, even though scareware sometimes claims that the money is donated to an environmental charity or foundation. The good thing about scareware is that it often does a poor job of impersonating your computer’s pop-up messages. Many scareware still use pop-up windows that mimic older operating systems, which may reveal it if you have a newer operating system or have a desktop theme installed.
Another telltale sign of fake antivirus software can be that it can’t be removed. Real antivirus software usually has an obvious “Uninstall” option that immediately confirms the uninstall. Fake antivirus software may not even appear in the list of installed programs, much less have a simple uninstall button.
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