Spyware May Expose You To Rogue Dialer Scams



Are there suspicious items in your recent phone bill? Did it list calls to long-distance or premium-rate telephone numbers you have no recollection of ever calling? Maybe you just have a poor memory, but a more likely and adverse reason would be that you have fallen prey to a rogue dialer scam. Such a scam may have been triggered by spyware that has infected your computer system.

To understand the scam, you have to know what a dialer is. Basically, it is piece of software that allows your computer to connect to the Internet through the phone line. Every computer that uses a dial-up modem to access the web uses a dialer; it is an essential piece of software for such machines.

A fraudulent dialer, however, can cause your computer modem to connect to the Internet using a premium-rate number instead of a regular phone line. These rogue dialers search for security holes in your system and exploits them to change the phone numbers your computer uses to dial to the Internet. You end up paying the premium-rate service for the use of their phone lines, even if you were never aware that you used them. Victims may end up paying as much as $4 a minute or more, so that a web surfing session lasting an hour or longer can rack up significant costs. Sometimes you remain billed even after you have disconnected from the Internet!

There a two usual ways for a rogue dialer to land in your system. One is through trickery; it may masquerade as a website or free software that offers free content such as mp3s, videos, or porn. If you download and install the software, you actually install the rogue dialer on your system. The website may mention the price of the service, but often such a notice is nearly hidden in small print masked by distracting graphics. Often, even if you refuse the download and click “cancel” on the pop-up, the dialer installs anyway and sets itself up as your default Internet connection.

A related way for this to happen is through spyware that has previously infected your computer. At some point during your web session, the spyware calls up the rogue website either on your main browser window or as a background pop-up. Even if you close your browser window or the pop-up, the rogue dialer will automatically install itself on your system. Sometimes the spyware does not even open the malicious website, but automatically downloads the dialer as soon as you connect to the Internet. To avoid becoming a victim of dialer fraud, you should take the steps of updating your web browser and protecting your system with reputable anti-spyware software. Most anti-spyware programs can detect rogue dialers and remove them from your system.

 To Be Continued   Click Here To Read More

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