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.

One way is that once it has infected your computer it may automatically use your address book and send out emails to your contacts containing the virus.  This particular type of computer virus is called a worm.  The reason that it is called a worm is that this virus is a self propagating virus.

If the virus is attached to a Microsoft Word document it could attaché itself to any other document you create or modify using that program.  When you send another document using that program the virus goes along with it.

Sometimes you will get an e-card which is actually a virus masquerading itself as something fun and will secretly infect your computer.  You like the e-card so much you decide to send some from the same site to your friends and family along with the virus.

Another type of computer virus is called a Trojan Horse which is related to a computer virus and the only difference is that a Trojan Horse will not attempt to replicate themselves.  A Trojan Horse will perform some unwanted action intentionally while it is pretending to be doing something else.  An example of a Trojan Horse would be a fake login program.  This fake login program will collect account information and passwords just like a legitimate login program.

Many computer viruses can lock up the entire computer system or erase your files.  Some are less malicious and do not do any direct damage other than spreading throughout the internet.  Some of the more malicious computer viruses can delete all your documents, reformat your hard drive, release confidential personal information such as credit card information, passwords, or account numbers by sending it via email to the address of the virus writer.

Some of the viruses will change security settings to allow a hacker to get into your computer without you being aware of it so they can steal information or even plant monitoring software on your computer.

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 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 and identity protection. To make things easier you can use such software, which automatically downloads new updates to keep working in the optimum way.