ScareWare Now Features 'Live Tech Support'

Nicolas Brulez of Kaspersky Labs has discovered that scareware vendors have ramped up their rogue AVs and are now spreading this malicious software with an “Online Support” button. Users installing the fake anti-virus software Security Master AV and clicking on the 'Online Support' button are directed to a chat window in which they can ask questions, or get "tech support", directly from the scareware 'vendor'.

Pressing Support takes you into a live chat with the rogue AV Tech Support. Brulez says he wondered whether it was a bot answering questions based on keywords or real people – and he reports, "yes, they turned out to be real!"

Kaspersky Labs learned that they not only offer Technical Support by chat, but also by phone and email. The email is especially useful if you don’t speak English. The live chat tells you (in English) to send an email in your native language to a given email address to receive support in your native language.

Once you are in the live chat one of three 'tech support agents' (Debora Brown, Kendra Grace or David Lee) attempt to convince victims in fluent English that their free trial software is genuine adding that the first rogue AV is a ‘Free Scanner’ only and that in order to remove the infections users will need to install the bogus full product. The newer products “clean” the machine, unlike the previous ones.

Below are some videos captured by Brulez and the Kaspersky Labs team:

This new hands on approach is like nothing ever seen before. It shows how well organized some of these groups have become.