Google links scam Avira users
Suspect firm advertising via Google found to be specialising in hijacking security brands.
Google searches for Avira and the company's anti-malware product Antivir, a free version of which is available for personal use in the German home market and elsewhere, are producing sponsored links to a subscription-based software download site specialising in providing 'free' security products.
The sponsored links in Google.de have tricked many would-be Avira users into paying cash to the sneaky firm, operating at 'downloadlink-2007.com'. With the new year the firm changed its name in the Google links to 'downloadlink-2008', but maintained its sponsored status and devious tactics, including adding the word 'avira' or 'antivir' to the site title displayed in the Google search results.
Clicking on the sponsored link, rather than the direct links to Avira further down the page, takes users to a site offering subscriptions to a package of security and system maintenance tools. After unchecking several boxes the system can be bypassed to lead eventually to an Antivir page at a separate freeware download site (users of the Firefox NoScript plugin may find this more difficult), but many users have felt tricked into buying the firm's wares in the belief that payment was necessary to access the Avira software. |
