Makers of fake anti-virus software are exploiting search engines to drive people to sites peddling 'scareware'.
Using popular and mis-spelled search terms, the criminals divert people to sites that are seeded with fake warnings about virus infections.
The pop-up warnings claim that a visitor's PC is riddled with malicious programmes and spyware.
Research suggests some criminals are making as much as $10,000 a day from fake security software.
Cashing in
Computer security firm Finjan carried out the research into the techniques sellers of 'scareware' use to get their fake software in front of web users.
"They are misleading people with evidence that their machine is infected with viruses and they are encouraging them to download and buy software that basically does nothing," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finjan.
Studies suggest that 'scareware' is catching on among some hi-tech criminals.
A report by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, released in March 2009, found 9,287 bogus anti-malware programmes in circulation in December 2008 - a rise of 225% since January 2008.
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