Thanks to the good people at Sunbelt Software (makers of VIPRE Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware, all of us now have a great resource that can help us identify if a program we stumble across on the Internet is a legitimate security product.
To get started, head over to their Rogue Anti Sypware blog and type the name of the product into the search box. If the product is in their database as a rogue product, it will tell you. Of course, if it’s a rogue product, don’t buy it and don’t click any links on the page (keep reading to find out what you can do — it won’t cost you a cent).
Above all, do not, repeat, do NOT buy a product simply because you get a popup or message on your computer telling you that you are infected. That’s always a bad idea. In many cases, the messages are fake and you’ve just given up your hard-earned money for nothing if you do purchase what they are selling. In other cases, not only do you lose your money for nothing when you buy, the rouge / fake site installs malware on your computer and / or takes your credit card details and sells them on the Internet.
Sunbelt recommends that you check out this partial list of legitimate anti virus software vendors. While it’s not 100% complete, it is a good place to start in your search for a legitimate company.
One final tip: Instead of handing over your hard earned money to a potential scammer to fix a potential security problem, download a copy of VIPRE Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware. It’s fully functional and completely free for 15 days — and after that, you can purchase an annual license for much less than you’d pay to somebody selling a rogue security application. And my personal experience with them has been great; I’ve always received great support from them (and I first used their products back in 2001).
Read this post on Sunbelt Software’s blog for more information about this topic (it includes a link to a very informative PDF document on the subject).
