~~~ SCAM ALERT Regarding Fraps Downloads ~~~

[AnandTech Moderator]

See this thread on Hard Forum:
[/quote]ATTN: New FS/T Scam (Fraps Download)

There's a new scam going around involving Fraps. A member offers you a link to download Fraps, either to just give you a "freebie" or so you can run some benchmarks on hardware they are interested in buying from you.

This download installs a keylogger. They are after your logins for paypal, WoW and anything else they can get their grubby little paws on. Don't do it!

So far we have banned Jamieson and bmp ex for trying to spread this malware here. If you have a trade pending with either of them, get out of it ASAP.

If anyone contacts you offering Fraps or any other downloads, please PM me with the full info, including links (please do not post any links here).

Downloading warez is not only illegal and wrong, but it can cost you dearly if you fall for this scam.[/quote]
We have no other confirmation of this scam, but the warning is appropriate.

Mod

 

[ForumMaster]

thanks, perhaps you should add a similar thread in the FS/FT section if you haven't already?

 

[dBTelos]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll let you know of anyone spreading this, from what I see.

-dB

 

[corkyg]

BTW - not everyone knows what "fraps" are. The geek term comes from "Frames Per Second," and relates to warez that decode such things from games and other stuff of that ilk. If you Google Fraps, you will get a lot of such sites.

 

[Boyo]

Originally posted by: corkyg
BTW - not everyone knows what "fraps" are. The geek term comes from "Frames Per Second," and relates to warez that decode such things from games and other stuff of that ilk. If you Google Fraps, you will get a lot of such sites.

Thanks for the explaination because I had no idea what was Fraps.........

 

[Modular]

Ouch.

 

[polypterus]

Originally posted by: corkyg
BTW - not everyone knows what "fraps" are. The geek term comes from "Frames Per Second," and relates to warez that decode such things from games and other stuff of that ilk. If you Google Fraps, you will get a lot of such sites.

Umm, Fraps is the name of a legitimate utility that allows you to measure FPS in games as well as capture real-time video. It has nothing to do with warez aside from this unconfirmed infected version.

 

[Smartazz]

Hold on, if I downloaded the trial version of fraps, does that mean I downloaded the malware or is it diffrent? An explanation would be nice. Thanks.

 

[dBTelos]

Originally posted by: Smartazz
Hold on, if I downloaded the trial version of fraps, does that mean I downloaded the malware or is it diffrent? An explanation would be nice. Thanks.

From the looks of it, it seems that some 3rd party download site is distributing a "edited" version of FRAPs that "contains" malware. I believe you can download FRAPs from the original author's site without any malware. Wait for this to be confirmed by Mr. Mod

 

[ForumMaster]

yeah dBTelos is correct. some hacker is distributing versions of FRAPS that are infected with malware. download from a legit site and run full scans on it before you install and you should be good to go.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Not so common sense would tell anybody who does any amount of downloading at all to always run a virus scan on whatever you download!!

Most utilities that are scan for viruses can be configured to just scan a particular folder.
It takes at best a few minutes verses the alternative which can take alot of time and effort to correct!!

be safe everybody!!!

 

[corkyg]

I don't think that a virus scan would pickup a key logger. That's a different animal. As forFRAPS - it is always nice to know what an acronym means - there are many readers here who do not play games. Good tech writing always defines acronymes and jargon the first time they are used in an article or message.

 

[JEDIYoda]

actually quite a few Virus scanner can and will detect keyloggers believe it or not...alot of keyloggers are considered malware and will be detected by a Virus scan or even just a Lavasoft or antispy both detect keyloggers!!

Just google it....

I am sure there are keyloggers that can`t be detected via a virus scan!!

 

[imported_nunya]

I would assume it's a single executable that installs both Fraps and the keylogger, and thus running a virus scan on the file wouldn't turn up a hit even if the virus scanner does catch keyloggers. You'd probably just have to hope your real-time virus scanning picks it up.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: nunya
I would assume it's a single executable that installs both Fraps and the keylogger, and thus running a virus scan on the file wouldn't turn up a hit even if the virus scanner does catch keyloggers. You'd probably just have to hope your real-time virus scanning picks it up.

actually we could go into quite a bit more detail than this but instead of boring everybody lets suffice to say you believe what you want...

 

[AstroGuardian]

Keyloggers can be written by anyone. So antivirus software can't recognize them. Or can but after damage is done. So don't trust you Antivirus that much....

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: AstroGuardian
Keyloggers can be written by anyone. So antivirus software can't recognize them. Or can but after damage is done. So don't trust you Antivirus that much....

So what you are implying is that because keylogegrs can be written by anyone there is no sure way to protect yourself?? hmmmm

actually you can use A Squared.....
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/

You can also use DiamondCS ....
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/

Personally my AV has found evry keylogger I have downloaded...
My AV (f-Secure) has found every keylogger i have downloaded so far - so Im just going to stick with SpyCop and hope my AV protects me in real-time!
SpyCop contains a screensaver feature that'll run quick checks for keyloggers every time the screensaver kicks in (you have to set SpyCop to "Only scan files that were created after the last scan" for it to work right).

 

[50cent1228]

wow thnx for tellin us

 

[myocardia]

Isn't just about every file on the internet some kind of malware/spyware/virus?:shocked:

 

[dBTelos]

Not exactly...

 

[Doom Machine]

its true that most personal code will not be detectable, heuristicsanning is a joke. AV's give a false sense of security.
there has even been a somewhat public keylogger that went a good 4 years i know of without being detectable, group members could use it to attach to any file type such as .jpg or.mp3, not just exe's, as it got popular a couple spyware companies finally cought on, although author still tries to make it more undectable with each version.

best security defense is knowlege..keeping up in hacker news groups helps alot in terms of whats new or trendy in malware authoring. its a shame that rootkits wasnt even public kowledge untill 2005..i first heard about its use to hide commands in like 1998 or 99 and yet still most AV's dont scan for them...how sad, most dont realize how common they became. recently some authors have used the cd protection sceme called starforce, to make new malware that will produce low level calls...very dangerous

i learned alot years ago simply by playing around with client/server trojans like sub7 on my computer..most older malware is freely available for educational purposes, client/servers are safe since you have control of it.

this whole fraps thing that you read here has been done to death with many popular programs over the years cause its easy to infect someone that wanst something from you.

instead of AV's, i prefer monitoring honeypot type software, like the ones that inform you if any change in registry..etc has taken place, problem is most dont know what its asking and hastely click yes just to be rid of its annoyance