Help, did I just buy some malware?

[Marlene]

we just purchsed PC Doc Pro 5 and am having issues on our other computer. when I went looking for info to contact them as the support button didn't work, I found articles that stated it was a malware program in disguse...eeek, anyone know anything about this company? I know you can't believe everything you see on the web, but am wondering about them. On the other computer when I couldn't click on the support button in the program, I went to ask.com to go to their site and try there. I was sent to a strange search with links to things that had nothing to do with the search request. I went out of there into bing.com and the search came up with the address I was looking for. when I clicked on it a page came up that looked odd, a message about crashing came up and then a photoshopped photo of Emma Watson nude on a toliet...not good!

any info would be really appreciated

 

[njshorts]

Yep!


www.vipreantivirus.com - the demo will remove it, buy a subscription... it'll save you a LOT of headaches.

 

[njshorts]

oh, also call the credit card company. your card info will be used by the scammers before long.

 

[Mike F]

You can also try Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. And if you don't have a virus scanner on that computer, check out Avast, or at least run Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

[ddarlak]

You can also try Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. And if you don't have a virus scanner on that computer, check out Avast, or at least run Microsoft Security Essentials.

+1

 

[njshorts]

You can also try Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. And if you don't have a virus scanner on that computer, check out Avast, or at least run Microsoft Security Essentials.

first option isn't a bad one, it uses the vipre engine... just minus the continual protection. i'd look into vipre though instead of avast or MSE... detection is better, engine is faster and updates are quicker.

 

[signswi]

Meh @ Vipre, MSSE tests extremely well and is free.

OP, Never buy shit from something telling you you have an issue and to fix it you need to buy something. Classic scam.

 

[Marlene]

thanks, I appreciate the info! never thought about calling the credit card company too

 

[njshorts]

Meh @ Vipre, MSSE tests extremely well and is free.

OP, Never buy shit from something telling you you have an issue and to fix it you need to buy something. Classic scam.

as always, you get what you pay for.

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/reviews/65865.aspx
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/documents/vipre_vs_mse.pdf
http://antivirus-software.findthebe...-Security-Essentials-2012-Anti-Virus-Software (Check out the cnet, pc mag and pc antivirus rankings)

even with the evidence aside, it's incredibly foolish to trust the people that create and leave security holes to protect you from intruders using them. i buy vipre for my windows machine, recommend it to my clients and friends, and sell managed vipre enterprise services... switched from symantec, avg and nod32 years ago- never looked back.

 

[Marlene]

we had PC Doc a few years back and liked it and thought is was a good company. when we started having issues, I checked on line and found articles that stated that is was a malware in disguse. I also found articles that said it was good. how do you know when something is good and what isn't?

 

[njshorts]

we had PC Doc a few years back and liked it and thought is was a good company. when we started having issues, I checked on line and found articles that stated that is was a malware in disguse. I also found articles that said it was good. how do you know when something is good and what isn't?

multiple references, and do a bit of digging on the manufacturer's website... something that looks a bit too 'web 2.0' may throw up a flag, generally a sign of a hastily built site (in a hurry for a reason!), companies that only sell one product are also a good example of a red flag... one more thing to keep in mind, if a website EVER tells you 'you're infected! look at these viruses! click here to fix it!' it's ALWAYS a scam. also pay attention to any site that references your registry or registry errors- generally a scam... even if they're legit, registry 'cleaners' cause more harm than good.

also, you can ask on here or ask a trusted IT professional... a number of us have worked in IT and are willing to help (chocucove also comes to mind, he's a pretty sharp dude... same with signburst.) if it helps, i've worked in the antivirus/antimalware industry on products for home and corporate (windows/linux).

the sites I just sent are legitimate, including one from the writer of vipre (Sunbelt Software/GFI). cnet/pc magazine reviews are also helpful as they test software before reviewing it.

 

[MikePro]

if you're really worried about malware, just bring up your Task Manager and google every item on the processes list. a lot of the time, if you have something, it will show up on multiple search results and you can then google the malware program and a way to uninstall it without having to purchase software to clean it for you.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

I have been pretty happy with Microsoft Security Essentials. The ONLY problem I have had is that it recently popped a false positive on Chrome. That was pretty funny.

Yeah, scammers suck and it looks like you have been scammed.

+1 on calling the credit card company for sure!

 

[SignBurst PCs]

if you're really worried about malware, just bring up your Task Manager and google every item on the processes list. a lot of the time, if you have something, it will show up on multiple search results and you can then google the malware program and a way to uninstall it without having to purchase software to clean it for you.

Mike, that sounds like a pain! I have LOTS of items in my task manager. I would opt for Malwarebytes and a good security software. They cost pennies a day or as mentioned before, I pay nothing (MS Security Essentials). It also pays to be vigilant regarding your web-surfing habits.

 

[njshorts]

if you're really worried about malware, just bring up your Task Manager and google every item on the processes list. a lot of the time, if you have something, it will show up on multiple search results and you can then google the malware program and a way to uninstall it without having to purchase software to clean it for you.

simple example, remember sasser? it ran as a windows process... needed to be cleaned, not terminated. pro-active protection saves a LOT of time. If that takes an hour, is your time not better spent selling signs?

 

[choucove]

While it is good to look at the items you have running in Task Manager occasionally (so you can go in and disable some things you don't need from automatically starting up with Windows - like QuickTime Task) it's not going to be so helpful with malware a lot of times.

I removed a fake/alert fraudulent virus just yesterday (OpenCloud Security) that does not have an actual process displayed in the running processes list. Even using RKill was able to remove the little task icon in the system tray, but did not actually shut down or stop the malware. The best best is to get Malwarebytes and perform a full system scan using that utility once you've installed all available updates.

 

[Graphics2u]

I have been pretty happy with Microsoft Security Essentials. The ONLY problem I have had is that it recently popped a false positive on Chrome. That was pretty funny.

Yeah, scammers suck and it looks like you have been scammed.

+1 on calling the credit card company for sure!

To Microsoft, Chrome is Malware! :Big Laugh

 

[SightLine]

While I belive Vipre is an excellent AV product a PDF from the creator is bound to be somewhat biased.

"MX-V™ Advanced Malware Behavior Analysis" they brag that they have this and MSE does not. Why not mention that no one else has that either because it's their own proprietary thing? Of course MSE does not have that - MSE has their own detection algorithms that they created as does pretty much any antivirus software.

It also an unfair comparison due to comparing something that is 100% totally free versus a premium paid product. Yes you will get more features for a paid product.

A more informative link from Brighthub would be http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/124609.aspx and of course checking our Antivirus reviews on Cnet and PC Mag's site as njshorts mentioned.

From the brighthub link above you can find many more comparisons including comparisons of free products and many articles about some of the paid products out there. I have no agenda but simply want people to make informed descisions. I think any decent security software package will have it's pluses and minuses compared to some other package. You will find many brag that their antivirues software is ICSA, Checkmark, etc certified but they often do not mention that a competing product might also be (MSE by the way is too). http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/ProductInformation.aspx This page give much more details about MSE.

I've not messed with many of the paid AV packages out in quite a long time. Back when I was a net admin we used Trend Micro for the hospital I worked at. Another place I worked for was using Symantec but both were far from their consumer edition counterparts. I used to personally use AVG but it got be be pretty naggy about bugging me to pay for more features and started to seem a bit of a resource hog. I have family and freinds who swear by Avast.

As far as removing PC Doc Pro a long and well know program already mentioned is Malwarebytes. http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free
The free version shoudl be able to completeley remove PC Doc Pro. Another free and easy option would be to run Windows System Restore and restore the computer to a restore point prior to instyalling PC Doc pro.

 

[Techman]

All the major geeks use avast. Avast has become the darling lately where at one time AVG was the one to have.
But alas AVG turned into bloatware. So now the geeks prefer avast FREE! The good thing about avast FREE is it will block and warn you if you encounter any bad websites.

 

[MikePro]

If that takes an hour, is your time not better spent selling signs?

in my freetime, i prefer not to sell signs... nor spend money if I don't have to.
i see your point, and please see mine. was just offering a FREE simple solution to check if there was an issue.