WinFixer
| Developer(s) | Innovative Marketing, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Development status | Shut down by the United States Government; similar scams may still exist |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | Scareware |
| License | fraudulent activity |
WinFixer is a family of scareware rogue security programs developed by Winsoftware which claim to repair computer system problems on Microsoft Windows computers if a user purchases the full version of the software. The software is mainly installed without the user's consent.McAfee claims that "the primary function of the free version appears to be to alarm the user into paying for registration, at least partially based on false or erroneous detections." The program prompts the user to purchase a paid copy of the program.
The WinFixer web page (see the image) says it "is a useful utility to scan and fix any system, registry and hard drive errors. It ensures system stability and performance, frees wasted hard-drive space and recovers damaged Word, Excel, music and video files". However, these claims were never verified by any reputable source. In fact, most sources consider this program to actually reduce system stability and performance. The sites went defunct in December 2008 after actions taken by the Federal Trade Commission.
The WinFixer application is known to infect users using the Microsoft Windows operating system, and is browser independent. One infection method involves the Emcodec.E trojan, a fake codec scam. Another involves the use of the Vundo family of trojans.
The infection usually occurs during a visit to a distributing web site using a web browser. A message appears in a dialog box or popup asking the user if they want to install WinFixer, or claiming a user's machine is infected with malware, and requests the user to run a free scan. When the user chooses any of the options or tries to close this dialog (by clicking 'OK' or 'Cancel' or by clicking the corner 'X'), it will trigger a pop-up window and WinFixer will download and install itself, regardless of the user’s wishes.
A free "trial" offer of this program is sometimes found in pop-ups. If the "trial" version is downloaded and installed, it will execute a "scan" of the local machine, and a couple of non existent Trojans and viruses will be located, but does nothing else. To obtain a quarantine or removal, WinFixer requires the purchase of the program. However, the alleged unwanted bugs are bogus, only serving to persuade the owner to buy the program.
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