Fake antivirus software has been plaguing Windows and OS X computers for a while now.  The method is all too familiar.  A window pops up, often mimicking real antivirus software.  A “scan” starts running that as surely as the day is long finds “infections”.  The list of infections is hard coded by the writers of the malware, so it doesn’t matter which machine this pops up on, the virus list is the same.  At the end all you have to do to rescue yourself from these horrible threats is “activate” your new software…in other words hand over your credit card number to criminals. 

Although I’m sure they have the best of intentions and won’t empty your credit card or steal your identity, it damages your computer and typically results in needing professional computer repair.

As is usually the case when something gets popular, thieves start targetting it as a new revenue stream.  Kaspersky has found numerous instances show up for Google’s Android devices.  They found SMS trojans that send premium SMS messages without the user being aware.  They found that criminals are using the exact same techniques that they’ve been using for Windows and OS X. 

The best way to protect yourself is to know what to look for.  For more information and examples, check out this article on Kasperksy’s blog website.