I have had two reports of the Microsoft Anti-Virus 2009 virus this week. This virus is a drive by download that pops up a window claiming there are lots of viruses on the computer and prompting you to CLICK and buy the “Microsoft” anti-virus to remove them. It is not Microsoft and it is not an anti-virus. It DOES take your credit card number and you do get charged, but the popup window will never stop popping up — it is a scam to steal credit cards.
Don’t click anything if you see this window: press ALT-F4 until you have closed everything. Clicking the X in the upper corner (which would normally close a window) of a virus popup window may not close the window, it may be all one graphic so clicking X does the same thing clicking anywhere else on the picture does — activate the virus.
Obviously if you see any request to approve installing anything, be grateful it got caught and refuse permission — DON’T CLICK OK! If you have installed the virus, the only reliable fix I have found is to save your data and reinstall everything from your system restore DVD.