The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has issued a warning about fake antivirus software, stating that scammers have made more than $150 million from the scareware.

“Typically, the scam starts with an aggressive pop-up advertisement that looks like some sort of virus scan,” writes Computerworld’s Robert McMillan. “Often it’s nearly impossible to get rid of the pop-up windows. Of course, the scan turns up problems, and the pop-up windows say the only way to get rid of them is to pull out a credit card and pay.”

“The IC3 says that users who see these unexpected antivirus pop-up warnings should shut down their browsers or their computers immediately and then run an antivirus scan to see what’s going on,” McMillan writes. “Victims who have been hit with rogue AV can file an IC3 complaint here.”

Click here to read the Computerworld story.