Bandoo.com

Bandoo.com Image

Bandoo.com claims to add fun smileys and emoticons to your instant messages. However, these emoticons come with a price, a severe malware infection on your computer system. Free smileys are a common way in which criminals target inexperienced computer users. Malware researchers have blacklisted Bandoo.com because Bandoo.com is closely connected to a variety of dangerous online scams. These include spam messages, phishing email attacks, adware infections, and – especially in the case of Bandoo.com itself – browser hijackers.

Browser hijackers are a kind of malware infection that can be used to take over a computer system's web browser. Browser hijackers are used to force computer users to visit a particular website like Bandoo.com repeatedly against their will. The main symptom of a Bandoo.com-related browser hijacker infection is visiting Bandoo.com repeatedly by "mistake".

Bandoo.com promotes software that supposedly makes instant messaging fun by adding smileys to conversations. However, these smileys are not even practical, as they can only be seen by other users of the Bandoo.com emoticon software. There are several other problems associated with using Bandoo.com emoticons:

1. Computer users that install Bandoo.com emoticons will find that their web browser forces them to visit Bandoo.com repeatedly, often changing its home page to Bandoo.com.
2. Software from Bandoo.com will also install adware on your computer system, turning your instant messages into advertising opportunities, which allow them to profit from adding advertising to your private conversations. These advertisements may expose the victim's computer system to malware-laced advertisements.
3. Can spread quickly from one computer user to another, since Bandoo.com uses private conversations to convince computer users not using the Bandoo.com emoticon package to download and install Bandoo.com in order to view these "fun" smileys.

Bandoo.com has been linked to a string of phishing email attacks designed to steal Gmail user accounts and passwords. Do yourself a favor and avoid free smileys and other similar offers. Adding smiley faces to your conversations is never worth exposing your computer system to dangerous malware, which can compromise your privacy, online passwords, and your operating system's correct operation.