I recently upgraded to an Android phone and a friend of mine asked me if I had put any antivirus software on it. My first reaction was “of course not…why?” And then she put the fear of malware and viruses in my head by mentioning that the Android operating system is a variant of Linux and since the Android marketplace is completely wide open, there was a good chance I could download an app that had malware or a virus. It made sense to me, at least at first. After all, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to clear malware off my laptop in the past year. Far too many times, believe me.

Over the last few months, GURU’s helpdesk has seen an increase in the amount of calls related to spyware and malware disguising itself in the form of an antivirus program. This week, Google confirmed GURU’s findings, reporting that the number of fake antivirus warnings, designed to scam computer users out of money, has increased five times over the past year. Google reports that these fake antivirus warnings now represent about 15% of all malware that Google detects on its websites.