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

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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.

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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.

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71 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-02-03T17:30:20+00:00

All due respect---I'm sure you know much, much more about these computer problems than I do---but my experience with AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes was all negative. They are invasive entities that, once opened and/or installed, keep their windows open on your screen even when you continue clicking to close them. Also, AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes are not actually free. These offers are simply sales pitches. Go to Programs and Features in Control Panel and uninstall what I would say is an unnecessary tool. With my basic knowledge and in my humble opinion, I think Windows Defender and McAfee are enough. And as someone else in the community said, practice safe browsing. Thank you all!
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Anonymous

2014-02-03T17:41:45+00:00

Both ADWCleaner and Malwarebytes are indeed free:

adwcleaner: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

Malwarebytes Antimalware (free version, do not install the trial or Pro version) - http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes\_free/

The latter will try to get you to purchase the Pro version. ADWCleaner is completely free and there is no paid version.

The behavior you are describing about being unable to close them is not normal behavior. I can't tell you why you encountered this.

-steve
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Anonymous

2014-02-03T17:49:16+00:00

AdwCleaner is free - there is no way to pay for it.

Malwarebytes Pro is a paid program - I have Malwarebytes Free on my computers.

I use AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes Free on a regular basis to remove malware and adware from computers...I have never had issues with either program.

You cannot use Windows Defender and McAfee on the same computer. McAfee must be completely removed from Windows 8 if you wish to enable Windows Defender on Windows 8.

If you wish to pay McAfee for your malware protection (that's definitely a paid product - they don't have a free version) it would be best to seek their assistance regarding malware issues:

http://service.mcafee.com/default.aspx

https://community.mcafee.com/community/home

Regards...
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