New update messages wanting to fix Windows file errors
I have received an email from “New Update to fix Windows File Errors” wanting me to “run a diagnostic test to check for any potentially harmful file errors located in your registry”. There is a link on the email for me to launch this test. Is this a bona fide website or some sort of virus?
It’s a scam. Basically it will run a “diagnostic test” which will then claim you are infected with some malware and you need to buy their product to fix the problem. Even if you do pay, you may well find the “nag alerts” continue with no way of getting rid of them.
Even if they weren’t a scam you should ignore these messages as most registry tools are snake oil anyway, we recommend not bothering with registry cleaners.
If you have opened one of these links, or you find these pop up messages are appearing, then follow our instructions on “Removing a Trojan” to make sure it hasn’t infected your system.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:51 am
Paul says”Even if they weren’t a scam you should ignore these messages as most registry tools are snake oil anyway, we recommend not bothering with registry cleaners.”
However to the left of my cuurent screen there is an add to download a registry cleaner with the following link advertising a “registry cleaner download”
http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?sa=l&ai=BqQL2LduvS5zpOYakjQSzy7HFCZrbzmruppbaC8CNtwHw2G8QBBgEIPfl9AMoBDgAUMvb4P4FYKX4kYCQAaABu4Sz_wOyAQ1pdHF1ZXJpZXMuY29tugEKMTIweDYwMF9hc8gBAdoBV2h0dHA6Ly9pdHF1ZXJpZXMuY29tLzIwMTAvMDIvMTgvbmV3LXVwZGF0ZS1tZXNzYWdlcy13YW50aW5nLXRvLWZpeC13aW5kb3dzLWZpbGUtZXJyb3JzL4ACAcgCvIqxBqgDAcgDB-gDrwLoAwXoA_ID6AO7AugDigP1AwAAAMQ&num=4&sig=AGiWqtwf-uutcc_4MDsiPtLaWqZ3876PVQ&client=ca-pub-3037499259142909&adurl=http://www.iolo.com/landing/%3Fpid%3DF89000B3-A8BA-4B50-B0AE-F57C61DABB7C%26utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_campaign%3Dsystem-mechanic-geo-australia-content%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_term%3Dregistry%2520optimizer&nm=22
March 31st, 2010 at 4:25 am
Hi John,
Unfortunately they are third party ads that make this site possible. As you can see we maintain fierce editorial independence from our advertisers.
Cheers.