There are three ways that you can encounter these rogue scanners; you see an advertisement offering a system tune up or the ad is offering a free virus scan, you click on a website that is fixed to exploit software vulnerabilities, or you get an email that is disguised as a news alert or a greeting card.

How to prevent scareware

This type of software is sometimes delivered through advertising channels that are legitimate and found on various websites.  The best way to prevent an infection from scareware is to disable active scripting that is being fed through a third party website.  Make sure that your anti-virus and anti-spyware that is legitimate is up to date.  Make sure that you read any email you receive in plain text and do not respond to any ads from people you do not know.

How to spot scareware

The most obvious symptom is to get an unexpected virus alert from some product you do not remember installing.  There is a list on line that you can check to see if it a rogue scanner before you download and install new security software or scanner.  Just type rogue scanners in the search box.

Removing scareware

The first thing you need to make sure when you think or know that you have a rogue scanner is to not connect to the internet.  Usually the uninstall file is in the control panel on your computer under the Add/Remove Program option.  Unfortunately the uninstaller usually does not work so hopefully your legitimate anti-virus software can remove the rogue scanner.  If it does not, you may no choice but to go online to find a tool that will specifically remove malware of this type.  Most of these tools are free.

Here are some ways to tell if the virus alert is real.

1. Location-Where the alert is located can have significant bearing on whether it is real or not. If you are seeing repeated warnings or alerts about the infection it could be because you have some type of non-active malware that is trapped in one of the folders from the system restore. It may also be just a remnant trapped in some other spot causing the alert.
2. Origination—where it came from might mean anything such as a high risk origin would mean an attachment in an email or files that are downloaded from some file sharing network. High risk can also include a download that is unexpected that is the result from instant messaging or an email link.
3. Purpose—is the file that is triggering the alert one that you need and expected. Consider a file that is unexpectedly downloaded as high risk and is likely malicious. Be careful about what you run on your computer system is one way to eliminate a virus infection. If you did download it, you need it, but your anti-virus software is still giving you an alert, get another opinion.
4. Second Opinion Scan—if your file makes it pass the first three steps but you are still getting an alert from your anti-virus software, you should upload the suspected file to an online scanner to get a another opinion. Your file will be submitted to several online scanners and if it comes back that some of the scanners say it is infected it more than likely is. If you only get one or two reports that the file is infected it could either be a malware virus that is new and not being detected by many of the scanners or it is a false positive.

These are some of the things that you can do to make sure if your anti-virus software is giving you a false positive or if it is for real. If you did intentionally download the questionable file and do not really need it, you can delete it if you are not sure.

Consumer education is important

Although there are some solutions available to deal with this issue but most people do not know about them. That is the reason why consumer education is extremely important. With an improvement in technological fields, several types of tools are there to strengthen your security. New technology tools and systems make use of interoperable vendor-neutral framework and provide consumers a safer environment to explore internet.

Use antivirus software

Though new technology is wonderful but it is not accessible by many people. Some cannot afford to spend a lot of money and some just do not know how to operate the whole system. However, that does not mean that you must not do anything to keep yourself away from list of identity theft victims. One of the simplest ways of stopping identity theft attacks is to use anti-virus software. It has been found in many recent researches that a wide majority of people still prefer using anti-virus software to stay safe on the WEB.
Installing anti-virus software is probably the easiest way of keeping your computer away from viruses and malware. Many people opt for stand-alone antivirus software but some opt for security suite containing anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a firewall. By using anti-virus software, you can stop and destroy those viruses that allow hackers to access your personal information. These viruses don’t only provide access to your personal information available in your computer but also display your email passwords for hackers to use for spamming.
Antivirus software is a popular option and everyone today is well aware of the functioning of antivirus software. Antivirus software mainly works while using these algorithms;
Generic Scanning Technique
Integrity Checking Technique
Heuristic Search Scanning
Interception technique
Antivirus programs come with virus definition or signature and they recognize an existing virus because of this definition. Generic scanning makes it easier for antivirus software to detect signature. Similarly, other algorithms work simultaneously to give protection to a computer system.
Now, it is clear that antivirus software can help in identity protection a big way but it should also be kept in mind that such software works only because of the virus definition. If hackers and identity thieves will use new viruses, the old definition will do nothing. That is why you must update your antivirus software on regular basis to ensure your online security. To make things easier you can use such software, which automatically downloads new updates to keep working in the optimum way.