Suspicious AntiVirus Alert Popped Up on Web Page

Anonymous

I am suspicious about messages that popped up when I went to a web page I'd never been to before. First a message popped up stating "Microsoft Antivirus has found critical process activity on your PC. You need to clean your computer to prevent system breakage." And then right afterwards another message appeared -- I might have pressed okay -- in a rectangular box with a thick red stripe across the top that read "Potential Threat Details," and then below "Microsoft Security Essentials detected potential threats that might compromise your privacy or damage your computer. You need to clean your computer immediately to prevent the system crash." But I noticed that "might" was spelled "mihgt." Then below that it listed the threats as:

Trojan PSW.Win32Launch

HackTool:Win32/Welevate.A

Adward.Win32Fraud

It said each of the three was "critical" and "active" and recommended I "remove" them.

Then below all this was a box I could check that said "clean computer."

Now aside from the misspelling of "might," I do not have Microsoft Security Essentials; I have Windows Defender, so I'm pretty sure this is a fake alert.

And I didn't press "clean computer." But I'm wondering what would have happened if I had; would I have gotten a virus, or a sales pitch to buy more antivirus software? But mostly I want to know what really will happen when my antivirus program -- which, again, is Windows Defender for Windows 8 -- does detect a real virus. It hasn't happened yet so I don't know, and I also would like to be able to distinguish the real alerts from the fake ones, especially if the fake ones do not have misspelled words as a telling sign.

Thanks

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

It is a fake alert and creater of that alert can enter as many virus names as he/she can, don't worry about that alert. Just practice safe browsing, do not click on Ads (specially of unknown source), always use original software and download them from their genuine sites only. Run scans from the tools you downloaded, and use free version only (neither Pro nor Trial).

About Trojan in quarantine-

Items in quarantine are neutral and cannot harm your PC, just like criminals in jail. There is no need to delete items in quarantine. You can also run a full scan of your PC to ensure no virus is lurking in your PC.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

As per your description above, except for the part... "it said it couldn't do much with that"... (Don't know what you mean by this?)

When someone tries to close AdwCleaner after clicking on 'Search' button then AdwCleaner alerts that it has only scanned for Adwares, not removed them and asks to click on 'Delete' button to complete removal. This is what he is trying to say.

0 comments

71 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-05-11T17:02:52+00:00

... but Adwcleaner ... did find 12 stability issues and 134 registry issues on my computer and asked if I wanted to repair them by using files from its own database. It also stated my Windows Damage Severity was "Medium." I actually clicked "yes" because I trust the program, but at that point it asked for $69 for a year's use. I haven't gone further.

No such behavior from real "AdwCleaner by Xplode". Are you able to locate a log file in C:\AdwCleaner[S1].txt ?

It would appear you've been redirected to download a different program. Another instance of the rogue AV?
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2013-05-11T14:58:30+00:00

Good catch. But, DaffyDuckKangaroo said the fake alert he got has "Clean Computer" button just like the legit alert. He is wise enough to notice wrongly spelled word and noticing alert from MSE although he uses WD.

DaffyDuckKangaroo-

Just remember, as far as I know, Windows Defender alerts doesn't alert in browsers. These fake alerts come in browsers only (if some program produce these kind of alert then [legit] Windows Defender will remove that program). Also, these alerts don't have drop-down list in "Recommendation" for removing, quarantine, etc. And "Show Details" button of fake alerts don't work either.

About Trojan and quarantine point:

Windows Defender removed Trojan as soon as it is launched so no one saw your personal data. And if any damage is caused by Trojan then Windows Defender repairs it also.

About SUPERAntiSpyware-

Do not run trial version. After you installed it you should had got this windows.

I guess you pressed Decline button. "Start Trial" will start its Real Time Protection and will conflict with Windows Defender. If you pressed "Start Trial" button then please uninstall SUPERAntiSpyware.

I don't know why AdwCleaner is showing these many problems. It is, in fact, less than an antivirus, it only catches Adwares. But, it catches those which are ignored by antiviruses. I guess somekind of Extension, Toolbar, etc. is installed in your PC which is redirecting you to these kind of fake alerts. I don't know if it asks for money for repairs, as far as I know it is freeware.

You may like to post question in Bleeping Computer forums about this as AdwCleaner is their product.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Deleted

This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

Comments have been turned off. Learn more