Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

Adware threat 'taking computers hostage'

Computer users in the US are complaining of an adwareonline threat that is reportedly taking computers hostage and forcing users to give up their credit card details.

According to one user in Greenville, the malicious code infected his computer and would not let him go online unless he purchased antivirus protection recommended by the program, reports wyff4.com.

Richard Miller, an Upstate farmer, said the anomaly began one morning when the ad suddenly appeared on his computer as he tried to check his e-mails.

"It would not let me go online," he said, "I had no other choice. I didn't know what to do. So I clicked here to see what it would do."

On clicking the link, the farmer was left over $100 (£50) out of pocket after the pop up ad known as Antivirus XP 2008 sold him two extra services, which went on his credit card.

According to the police, several people have had their online security compromised by the adware.

PC Tools software prevents adware from taking over your PC. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection