Unreleased Rogue Anti-Virus App 'Virus Clear 2011' is Already for Sale on Scam Websites

There are so many rogue anti-virus programs out there on the Internet right now that it hardly comes as a surprise that they are a very profitable scam – but now the crooks behind one of these fake applications are trying to trick people into paying for it before it's even released! A program called Virus Clear 2011 is intended to be a rogue anti-virus application, but it isn't causing any infections. Something strange is going on here, and it's plain to see if you look at the websites for Virus Clear 2011.

Suspicious Websites Offer VirusClear 2011

As of March 3, there were ten separate domains that were each claiming to be the one legitimate site for the company offering Virus Clear 2011 for sale:

Note: Websites that do not have a screenshot is because when trying to access them its homepages stated "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access on this server."

• Startavclub.com

  

  Startavclub.com Contact Page

  

  Startavclub.com Support Page

  

• Avstartpc.com

  

• Avfreedom.net
• Verygoodav.net

  

• Safetyav.com
• Safetyshopav.com
• Freedom-av.com

  

• Startpcav.com

  

  Startpcav.com Purchase Page

  

• Avhealing.com
• Bebetterav.com

These websites are constructed just like any other payment page associated with a rogue anti-virus program. The idea with one of these rogue anti-virus applications is that it infects a computer without the user's knowledge, and then when it becomes active, the malware uses a combination of ransoming and scare tactics to try to drive the user of the affected computer to pay for the malware as if it were real antivirus software. To do this, these fake software scams have multiple identical (or nearly identical) payment sites, which usually include the bare minimum in text and layout in order to look realistic. They frequently offer a few different "tiers" of service for the fake software, which can be paid for by credit card. The suspicious websites have the following price options for VirusClear 2011:

• VirusClear 2011 3 months unlimited support for $49.95
• VirusClear 2011 6 months unlimited support for $59.95
• VirusClear 2011 Lifetime unlimited support for $69.95

Virus Clear 2011’s Fraud Scheme and its WebSites’ Characteristics

Not only are all ten websites claiming to be the one true site for this "company," but they also contain text that is identical word-for-word across all of the sites. Every one of these ten sites has the same sub-pages and tabs, which contain literally all the same text. Each site has its own color scheme and graphics, as well as a different logo for Virus Clear 2011, but the graphics are obviously hastily thrown together. For example, most of the sites include on their main page a picture of a computer, but none of the pictures is of a generic computer; they clearly show brand names and logos and seem to be staged oddly.

Even if the design of these sites doesn't put you off, a few other things should. The "FAQ" page contains some things that are just downright bizarre, like: "Why is the software offered at your web site cheaper than the original software?" The answer provided is just as strange, and it says something about copies of software that are somehow legal but unlicensed, because they were purchased at auction from companies going out of business. The FAQ page also says, at another point, "Updates are available for most of the software." So all ten of these sites claiming to sell Virus Clear 2011 make all of these allusions on the FAQ page to multiple products being offered – but all ten sites, at all other levels and on their other internal pages, claim to offer exactly one thing for sale, which is Virus Clear 2011. Why on earth would anyone sell one antivirus product, and then say that updates were available for "most of the software?" The customer service "contact" page is even crazier than the FAQ, because apparently, in order to get help with your downloaded "product," you have to provide your credit card number!

Clearly, all of these different domains, which have separate IP addresses and are hosted on separate servers, are payment sites for a scam. The real kicker is that all ten domains can be traced back to a single name and address, in Russia:

Sergey Nevsky
24ruhost
Gorki St. 73 Apt. 44
Cherepovets, Vologda 162614
Russia

So not only do all ten of Virus Clear 2011's domains trace back to the same name and address, but they trace back to 24ruhost. This puts the last nail in Virus Clear 2011's coffin, as 24ruhost is notorious for hosting many of the widespread rogue anti-virus application scams that are currently plaguing the Internet. No legitimate anti-virus software company would trace back to 24ruhost.

All of the pieces are in place for a rogue anti-virus application scam using Virus Clear 2011. That begs the question of where, exactly, the malware is. There don't seem to be any reported cases of infections with Virus Clear 2011. On the other hand, there are no reports of anyone using Virus Clear 2011 as anti-virus software, either.

Is This a New Rogue-Making Trend?

Maybe there never will be any malware, and there never was going to be. After all, to create a Trojan and a fake security program and fake sites takes time and effort. It also takes time and effort to rename the malware and tweak it every day, just to stay ahead of real anti-virus software. Maybe what's going on with Virus Clear 2011 is much simpler than that. Can it be that the Virus Clear 2011 websites are the scam, that they are an end in themselves? If they can convince people to pay for Virus Clear 2011 and expose their credit card information in the process, by creating a bunch of websites to draw people in, the people behind Virus Clear 2011 have no reason to create fake anti-virus software. Instead, they can run a simple, straightforward scam, and offer something for sale with no intention of delivering it. Let's just hope this doesn't represent the start of a new trend in Internet scams.

Of course, the true purpose of the Virus Clear 2011 sites remains to be seen. Unfortunately, the truth may only come out after they have been used to defraud people.