One of my older in laws got caught by a email that appeared to be from Avast! Paid the $19.99 and downloaded software that made her PC sick. She had email contact and even telephone contact with someone who had an India accent. She did realize that she was in the wrong place dealing with the wrong people. Getting the payment stop but not before her the PC was transformed into a useless machine, at least for her. She purchased a new and I am waiting on the Computer so I can see what software was installed and have the email foreword to me.
I know that email scams are common and we need to be a where but would not the Avast! teem be interested in finding these people and offensively kindly (malicious) attacking them? For my in law Avasts active protection is important her. She and others are not familiar with the different internet scams but want to use it. So maybe a little proactive intervention on our part to make these scammers fear taking advantage of users may go a long way.