Fake AV what's up with these sponsored links

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1 
 A few days ago one of my friends that doesnt know too much about computers told me his Norton subscription ran out and he needed a new antivirus program.  So I told him to check out avast because it has a generous trial period and is one of the best free antivirus programs around. In the end he ended up downloading Antivirus 2009.  I ended up laughing at him because I found it funny.  I removed Antivurs 2009 from his pc and set him up with avast and everything turned out fine.

 But I have to ask, what is up with all these rogue antivurs applications being sponsored links on sites like youtube, google etc?  It's sad because a lot of computer novices end up getting scammed. ; ;

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad279/lightpaladin123/googlepic.jpg

 Lets say I told some one who didn't want to pay for an antivirus program to download avast because it has a great free version.  They see the above sponsored links and think hmmmm... Antivirus 2009 free or avast antivirus for $39.95 in the sponsored links.  My buddy told me it was free, so I will go with the second link.  x.x
2

Yeah…google’s fault…Everytime you report it, there is a new, different one tomorrow…

See: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=48240.msg407138#msg407138

We’ve tried…::slight_smile:

3

Welcome twigler

I do not use McAfee SiteAdvisor any more as its listings are way out of date and even lists sites with known malware as safe.

I find Browser Defender much better:
http://www.browserdefender.com

I see you are using Web of Trust as well and it is OK.

4

Thanks YoKenny for the heads up. I’ll take a look at it and give it a try. I have noticed McAfee has a lot of unknown ratings. Guess it would be in my best interest to get rid of it if it lists malicious sites as safe.

5

If you or you friend use firefox, then you can use an add-on called CustomizeGoogle and that gets rid of those sponsored links.

6

I have unistalled McAfee Site Advisor and installed Browser Defender. I obtained some interesting results… It lists some scam sites as safe x.x. It listed stopzilla, antivirus 2009 and various other fraudulent sites as safe. I doubt I will continue to use it and maybe you will reconsider using it. Here is a picture of antivirus 2009 site being marked safe.

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad279/lightpaladin123/googleBD.jpg

7

try wot : mywot.com

8

This is a well-known trick.
I hope Google take some precautions to avoid this security leak.

9

I never click on Sponsored Links in fact I never see them as my HOSTS file blocks them from appearing.

Read about the HOSTS file:
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

I use HostsMan to manage the HOSTS file and its browser speedup proxy HostsServer:
http://www.abelhadigital.com <== I use 3.2.71 Beta7

I also use hpHosts HOSTS file that I include with HostsMan.

10

They are already using WOT by the Green circle presence.

11

yes! over looked. thanks kenny.

12

I downloaded hostsman and updated my host files with mvpshosts and hphosts. It doesnt stop the sponsored links from showing in internet explorer 8 for me, but when I click them it stops me from going there. However, in firefox It does not show sponsored links and that was before I updated my hosts file. I think that is due to adblock plus.

Browser Defender does show sites that promote malware as safe but so does wot on the rare occassion. I have found some links marked safe by wot but deemed unsafe by browser defender. Since both can be wrong I will use both so I can have a second opinion for maximum security. It is probably best to not check whether a site is green but whether it appears red by one of those two addons.

Also, do any of you guys use sandboxie?

Thanks for your time and for the links to useful programs.

13

Are you running HostsServer as well?
It provides a handy logging function for showing the effectiveness of the HOSTS file and the referrer sites.

I don’t see the link for AntiVirus 2009 - Free but maybe Google removed it as it is a bogus application.

I don’t use Sandboxie.