Scareware Scam Targets ICQ Users

NEW YORK — ICQ users for the past few days have had their sessions interrupted by the "Antivirus8" pop-up that occurs just as the service begins fetching or displaying new ads.

The scareware campaign is particularly troublesome for the online adult industry because ICQ is the most-used instant messaging service in the biz and that the rogue antivirus "scareware" appears without user doing anything that normally triggers such pop-ups.

Security software vendor Kaspersky discovered the fake antivirus warning linked to an ad on ICQ, prompting users to get sucked into buying a bogus security "cure" after a meaningless scan reports that their PC has become infected.

Kaspersky researchers identified the offending page distributing the malware as CharlotteRusse.eu, a fabricated website designed to look as if it’s affiliated with the Charlotte Russe women's clothing chain. About the same time the ad is displayed another pop-up appears in a new browser from "Antivirus8."

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