DOJ, FBI Dismantle Global Scareware Ring

The Justice Department and the FBI, along with international law enforcement partners, have announced the indictment of two individuals from Latvia and the seizure of more than 40 computers, servers and bank accounts as part of Operation Trident Tribunal, a coordinated enforcement effort targeting global cyber crime.

The operation targeted international cyber crime rings that caused more than $74 million in total…

Cyber Crooks Exploit News of Royal Couple Prince William, Kate Middleton

Internet users who are looking for information about the recently announced engagement and upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton are in for a royal surprise: According to Sophos, searching for the couple’s names can lead to rogue websites, which trick visitors to believe their computers are infected with viruses.

“We’ve seen this trend before with hot news stories,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant…

Scary Movies, Halloween Popular Topics for Cyber Miscreants

Hackers are taking advantage of popular Hollywood scary movies, such as “Paranormal Activity 2″ and “Friday the 13th,” to implement blackhat SEO attacks that target unsuspecting web users through search results, according to PandaLabs.

In a blackhat SEO attack, cyber crooks place links to malicious sites in the search results for popular terms, such as latest horror flicks to arrive in theaters. Once users click…

Be Afraid: Hackers’ Scary New Tricks to Rip You Off

Nearly two billion Internet users are vulnerable to scams and cyber assaults, in particular what a security company calls “crimeware-as-a-service” carried out by organized cyber criminals.

In a newly released report by CA Technologies, researchers  noted how Trojans are today the most common category of new threats, accounting for 73 percent of total…

Scammers Attempts to Trick Users to Delete Legit Software

Scammers have developed a new virus designed to dupe users into uninstalling legitimate security products. A virus calling itself AnVi Antivirus, generates a pop-up message that legitimate applications are “uncertified” and should be removed, according to The Register.

While many viruses work to surreptitiously disable security software, this new technique relies on social engineering to convince users to disable or delete products themselves. If a user fails to follow the…

Scareware among Fastest-Growing Online Scams, Says FBI

Pop-ups telling you your computer has been infected with a virus and then insisting on buying a certain anti-virus solution are not only incredibly annoying, but they can also masquerade as carriers of malware.

Called scareware because they scare consumers into buying bogus anti-virus programs, this type of scam has become one of the fastest-growing types of online frauds, according to the FBI. Instead of removing the supposed virus, the…

Swede, US Citizen Accused of Running Scareware Scam

An international cyber crime group is accused of luring Internet users in more than 60 countries to buy more than one million bogus software products, causing victims to lose more than $100 million.

The charges allege a Cincinnati-area man and two other men believed to be living overseas deceived Internet users into believing their computers were infected with malware or had other critical errors. To solve the problem,…

‘Ransomware’ Targets Japanese Porn Site Users

A Japanese cyber gang has come up with a way to extort money off those who pirate adult games: Pay up, or you will be embarrassed online.

According to Computerworld, this type of scam is a new one in the world of “ransomware”–the practice of holding hostage a computer system or the data it contains, and then extorting money from its rightful owner.

Trend Micro researchers in Japan and the…

Social Networking Scammers Use Porn

Pornography is a favorite medium used by cyber criminals to attract potential victims, with fake pornographic sites collecting data from unsuspecting users and infected sites distributing malware to visitors. Scammers who seek to exploit victims using social networking are now employing this tried and true method as well, according to an article on The Register.

According to the latest security report from Symantec, 92 percent of adult phishing scams,…