Just an example of scumware I had today - and how to fix it

[lakrasia]

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Earlier I got an e-mail asking me to exchange links - I get them quite often from legitimate sites and so I looked at the site (Celebrity photos, so be warned) - Spy Sweeper jumped in with a warning and I did all I could to protect my machine, but couldn't.

It installed something called Web Rates. This evening I was testing a link in a newsletter with an affiliate link - the scumware destroyed the link completely, saying something like Trade Doubler has no connection with this advertiser and up came a small pop up from TopRebates.com, who are registered in California, offering a discount on the exact site I was linked to, if you clicked the box.

Took me ages to find out how to get rid of programs such as syncroad and webrates0, but I found out the way was to reboot, press F8 and choose safe mode. Then Spy Sweeper was able to delete the files.

I've written to Trade Doubler about this - I assume Web Rates is with them, as they wouldn't be offering a discount unless they were affiliates. Can't seem to trace webrates now, as there is a redirect on the domain name.

Just FYI.

Linda