FBI estimates losses of over $150 million to rogue anti-virus

Tthe Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), reported that “the FBI is aware of an estimated loss to victims in excess of $150 million” from rogue anti-virus.

This threat typically presents itself in the form of a pop-up window which could appear on any type of website a user is visiting. The popup will suggest that the user’s computer is somehow infected and invites the user to download software on the pretense of removing it or further scanning the system for more.

Typically, such downloads will contain malware, as well as an invitation to pay the perpetrator a fee to remove it.