Newest Conficker Variant Tries to Charge $50 to Remove Itself

Coming on the heels of an announcement that Conficker was downloading files and then deleting them, security officials have identified the latest version of the virus, Conficker.e, and discovered what may be one of the business models behind the virus.

The Conficker.e variant began downloading to infected PCs today. Conficker then installs Waledac, a known bot that is basically the next generation of the Storm bot that infected computers in 2008. Many security experts believe Conficker is using Waledac to create a botnet, or network of compromised computers, that can be rented out to spammers.

But there appears to be another ploy that Conficker is pulling on unsuspecting users: scareware. Conficker is capable of showing popups to users that claims to be antivirus software that has detected the Conficker virus. Conficker then prompts users to pay $50 to have itself removed. Obviously, it doesn't remove itself, it just takes your money and scoffs at you ... actually, the makers of Conficker will do the scoffing, but you'll still be out $50.

This might not be the only attempts that Conficker will make to scam you. Apparently, not all infected computers are downloading the same things. It may be that there are several different programs Conficker will use in its campaign.

The good news is that Conficker can easily be removed with real antivirus software. We've compared the best (non-scareware) antivirus solutions out there and ranked them. If you're computer isn't protected, you should really think about getting one because this doesn't look to be the end of Conficker.

For more tech news, including updates on Conficker, check the TTR Tech News Blog:

Conficker Update: Using P2P to Send Files

Hackers Fail to Compromise Smartphones...For Now

C'mon Get Happy: Acer Announces a Slew of New Goodies

Multitouch Patent-Infringement Lawsuit Against Apple?

Barnes & Noble to Make eBook Reader?