How to identify and deal with scareware

How to spot scareware
However, there are some tell-tale signs. Always ignore any pop-up or section of a website that says it is scanning your PC for errors.

There are real sites that can scan your PC in this way, but you should be prompted to allow the scan and it will take a few minutes. Rogue scans will be done in seconds because they are not doing anything real.

In some cases clicking on the ad, even in an attempt to close it, will cause another version of the ad to appear or it will prevent the user from closing it.

The best way to close such a pop-up is to right-click its icon on the Taskbar and select Close. This should prevent it from doing anything further.

Alternatively, hold down the Alt button on the keyboard and press the F4 key, the shortcut for closing the current window – note that if the fake pop-up is not the selected window you may end up closing something else.

All major web browsers can block pop-ups. In Internet Explorer click the Tools menu and select Pop-up Blocker, or in Firefox click Tools, Options, click the Content tab and select ‘Block popup windows’. It will not get rid of all ads, but it’s a start.

Running an anti-virus program is also vital. Good free tools are Avast and AVG (see our security software reviews here for a selection of paid-for products). This should pick up any nasty programs before they do any damage.

If you want to check the legitimacy of a program mentioned in a pop-up ad, type its name into any search engine.

For most scareware you will see a list of sites talking about how to remove it whereas for legitimate software you will usually see the manufacturer’s product page.

Our verdict
Scareware is an insidious feature of the modern online world that preys on fear and lack of knowledge. It’s not easy to identify which adverts are safe to click and which are not, but if you know what to do, scareware needn’t be a worry.

It’s important to be wary of any pop-ups. Does the top of the message say ‘Internet Explorer’ or ‘Firefox’? If so, it’s not a genuine error message. Ensure you close pop-up windows you have not requested.

Remember the name of your anti-virus provider and that if it’s up to date you do not need another one. If you are presented with a box saying you do, ignore it and close it.

If you are presented with a message saying your computer has a number of errors, it’s not true and can be ignored.

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