Malware posing as legitimate software is nothing new, but a new iteration of scareware, software that tricks you into purchasing useless software is taking it to the next level. There’s now scareware programs that can simulate your hard drive failing, giving you a false alert and linking you to a recovery tool. Symantec says that to make the ruse more believable, the program moves files and programs into another folder, simulating the drive failure. Then a link to a recovery tool will pop up, and for a payment of $79.50, will supposedly help you get your stuff back. Seeing that there’s nothing more horrifying than the prospect of losing years of files, folders and data, most users pony up the dough to get it. We’ve linked a video of the thing in action below.
Source: Symantec