So be careful with what you download. Read product reviews and find out if other people got headaches from using it.

• Visiting ad-heavy sites

If you visit a site and you’re immediately bombarded with pop-up ads, leave immediately. You might click on an ad that activates an automatic download of malicious software to your computer.

Here is a list of activities which you should be doing instead:

• Invest in good antivirus software. Going online without protection of antivirus software is like going out naked in snow. That’s just how vulnerable an unprotected computer is.

• Most antivirus software packages include an internet security program (also known as firewall). A firewall acts as a barricade between you and unwanted content from internet. When buying antivirus software, it’s better to shell out for internet security as well.

• Once antivirus software is installed in your computer, keep it updated always so it can recognize and remove newly released viruses.

• Whatever browser you are using, check that its security settings are all in default unless you really know what you are doing.

• Periodically delete files that you no longer use.

• Download spyware- and adware-removal tools and run them at least once a week. Be warned that many of these removal programs are a scam, so make sure that what you download is reliable. You can easily search for product reviews to check if program is legitimate or otherwise.

• Back up all your important files all time.

• If possible, have two computers at home. One will be used to connect to internet, and other should not be connected at all.

The second computer will act as storage of all your important files so that even if first one crashes, your life won’t be in ruins.

Don’t be dependent on removal tools and antivirus software packages, though.

Before spending that amount of money for a suspicious product, I did a Google search for ["Name of Anti-spyware program" + Avoid].

Yes! It was shown as Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware(*) at SpywareWarrior.com along with another 199 similarly suspicious offerings, and advice on how to avoid being duped or robbed by False Positive findings.

(*)"Rogue/Suspect" means that these products are of unknown, questionable, or dubious value if used for anti-spyware protection.

Spyware Warrior is a great website to bookmark for future reference. Here's a link: http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

These are programs I used to confirm my suspicions. None found four infiltrators:

Spybot S&D,AdAware, Xoftspy, Xcleaner, CWSshredder, HijackThis, AVG, and ErrorNuker.

It's possible that Suspect anti-spyware program would have removed them.

I wasn't going to take that gamble. It's bad enough that spyware and adware are disabling millions of home computers. Exploiting this epidemic with fake programs that claim to remove these pests for an exorbitant fee, but might not, is unscrupulous and unconscionable behavior.