Scanning the downloaded executable through Virus Total produced red flags from 3 antivirus engines: I eventually located a download link on a third party site so I installed ScanGuard in a pristine VM (virtual machine). No way José! I did manage to locate a list of phone numbers to contact for “billing inquiries only” and a quick call to the number listed for Australia connected me to a young lady with a distinctly offshore accent. Alas, the next page merely prompted me to pay $49US for the software including a section to input credit card details. So, I entered a fictitious name and disposable email address and clicked the SIGN UP NOW button hoping to access some sort of download.
Clicking a conspicuous GET STARTED button merely initiates a popup asking you to create an account: There is no “trial” download available on ScanGuard’s home page, in fact there are no download links at all.
It appears the company behind ScanGuard is not keen on users downloading a trial version so they can take a look at the software prior to purchasing. So, in view of the number of inquiries, I decided to take a closer look at the ScanGuard software. The company behind ScanGuard describes it as “ The All In One Security & Optimization Software” and, apparently, the software has been extensively advertised online, especially on Facebook. Just recently I’ve had a number of people ask me about a relatively new program called ScanGuard.
