In an effort to boost sales, sellers of a fake antivirus product known as
Live PC Care are offering their victims live technical support.
According to researchers at Symantec Corp., once users have installed the
program, they see a screen, falsely informing them that their PC is infected
with several types of malware. That's typical of this type of program. What's
unusual, however, is the fact that the free trial version of Live PC Care
includes a big yellow "online support" button.
Clicking on the button connects the victim with an agent, who will answer
questions about the product via instant message.
Symantec says the agent is no automated script, but in fact a live person.
This lends an "air of legitimacy" to the program, said Marc Fossi, a manager of
development with Symantec Security Response. "Obviously if they've got live tech
support, it must be real," he joked.
