Smitfraud Variants including PestCapture, WinAntivirus Pro 2007,
and other similar Malware Removal Instructions and Help

How Did My Computer Become Infected with a SmitFraud variant?

SmitFraud Variant - trojan spy win32 mx

If your computer has become infected with one of these "spyware removal programs", you probably downloaded an infected codec program when you tried to watch a video online or you may have been hit by a "drive-by" installation of Smitfraud.

SmitFraud attacks show fake antispyware programs popups on your screen and/or a balloon popup from the windows system tray displaying a warning message that your computer is infected with spyware and telling you to purchase, download & install their program to remove it.

The creator of each popup is an affiliate of the particular antispyware program they are promoting, so each time an unsuspecting user purchases the advertised program in hopes of removing the trojan the person behind the attack gets paid.

Not a very ethical way of selling an antispyware, antivirus, or other computer pest removal product.

In many of the infected computers I've dealt with, programs like "Video Access ActiveX Object" show up in the Control Panel and are the initial infection that start the whole issue. Most of these programs when scanned with an up-to-date virus scanner are shown to be infected with viruses like Troj.Zlob.AN, which was part of the original SpyAxe trojan attack a couple years ago. These attacks have spawned over 100 different varieties of malware issues. Many times the home page is redirected to a fake "online security center" or a user will receive a popup that looks almost identical to the normal Windows Security Center but isn't. You can see a couple of these fake alerts by clicking on the images below.

The popups and warnings are smokescreens and fake alerts to scare visitors into buying a spyware removal tool that may not even remove the trojan that caused the warnings in the first place.

As I stated above, many of these infections were installed by a fake codec like "Video Access ActiveX Object" that installed into the Program Files directory in Windows.

These files like pmmnt.exe and pmsnrr.exe install and attach themselves to the Windows Explorer shell so they are always resident and recreate themselves if you try to delete them in a normal windows mode. They hide in a registry key similar to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\explorer\run]

"rare"="C:\\Program Files\\Video Access ActiveX Object\\pmsnrr.exe"

HijackThis will show various problem files, a typical Hijackthis log infected with this issue will look similar to this: The problematic lines are in bold. You'll notice this infected system was running Trend Micro PC-Cillian Security Suite 2007 at the time of the infection, so these downloads and infections may even fool antivirus and antispyware tools.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 5:28:17 PM, on 3/12/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16414)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Video Access ActiveX Object\pmsnrr.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security 2007\pccguide.exe
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_11\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security 2007\TMAS_OE\TMAS_OEMon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Video Access ActiveX Object\pmmnt.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\PcCtlCom.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Works Shared\wkcalrem.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\Tmntsrv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\TmPfw.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\tmproxy.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\PcScnSrv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://msnbc.com/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_11\bin\ssv.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Protection Bar - {84938242-5C5B-4A55-B6B9-A1507543B418} - C:\Program Files\Video Access ActiveX Object\iesplugin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [pccguide.exe] "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security 2007\pccguide.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] "C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_11\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [OE] "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security 2007\TMAS_OE\TMAS_OEMon.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Works Calendar Reminders.lnk = ?
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_11\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_11\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - %windir%\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O16 - DPF: {8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93} (Java Runtime Environment 1.5.0) - http://javadl-esd.sun.com/update/1.5.0/jinstall-1_5_0_11-windows-i586-jc.cab
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - http://fpdownload2.macromedia.com/get/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: Trend Micro Central Control Component (PcCtlCom) - Trend Micro Inc. - C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\PcCtlCom.exe
O23 - Service: Trend Micro Protection Against Spyware (PcScnSrv) - Trend Micro Inc. - C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\PcScnSrv.exe
O23 - Service: Trend Micro Real-time Service (Tmntsrv) - Trend Micro Inc. - C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\Tmntsrv.exe
O23 - Service: Trend Micro Personal Firewall (TmPfw) - Trend Micro Inc. - C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\TmPfw.exe
O23 - Service: Trend Micro Proxy Service (tmproxy) - Trend Micro Inc. - C:\PROGRA~1\TRENDM~1\INTERN~1\tmproxy.exe

What's the Best Way to Remove SmitFraud problems including PestCapture, WinAntivirus Pro 2007 and other problems?

Intentionally infecting a test computer with WinAntivirus Pro 2007 and PestCapture, I have come up with a solid procedure for removing these pests.

Before attempting this removal procedure, download the following removal tools to your desktop and install them.

SmitRem by NoahdFear - Tool to remove Spyaxe, SpySheriff, PSGuard, WinHound, and other issues
SmitFraudFix - Tool to remove most SmitFraud infections
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware - tool to remove Rogue applications and much more (highly recommended)
HijackThis 1.99.1 - Essential tool for finding spyware, virus, trojan, and other problems
CCleaner - Free tool for removing temporary files, cookies, history, and cleaning up registry problems

Removal Procedure

1) Download the programs above to your desktop, extracting and install them. Once this is complete, reboot your computer in Safe Mode

2) Open the SmitRem folder and double-click on RunThis.bat to start the SmitRem removal procedure. Besides removing particular files that it looks for, the tool also runs the Disk Cleanup tool to remove temporary files on the hard drive that may contain problem files. For a Tutorial on using SmitRem click here

3) After SmitRem has finished, open SmitFraudFix and choose to search (option 1) and clean (option 2) and run a full system scan to remove anything it finds. For a tutorial on using SmitFraudFix click here

4) Double-click on MalwareBytes, install it, update it, and run it to remove misc rogue application files installed with SmitFraud

5) While still in Safe Mode, run CCleaner. Analyze and Clean files it finds, then click on the Issues button on the left side of the screen and Scan and Fix any Registry issues CCleaner discovers. Run both the Registry Scanner and the File Analyzer until nothing else is found.

6) Run Hijackthis and Remove any leftover issues. If you are not sure, if a line in Hijackthis is a problem, reboot in normal mode and use the Online HiJackthis Scanner to see if the file is a threat. Just copy and paste your Hijackthis log file into the scanner and let it analyze it for you. Although its not perfect, it will give you an idea if your system is clean or still needs some work. Do not delete anything with Hijackthis unless you are absolutely sure what the file is and what it does.

Another great tool to use is Process Library to see if a file is a threat.

For items in the Hijackthis log like the following, that will not delete manually, use KillBox to browse to the location of the file and delete it or delete it on reboot. Items that are impossible to remove unless using Killbox usually show up in the 20 section of Hijackthis.

O20 - Winlogon Notify: msupdate - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\msupdate32.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: winrir32 - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\winrir32.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: dvd4free - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\dvd4free.dll

7) Reboot computer in Normal mode

8) Scan your computer with online virus scanner like Housecall, BitDefender, or eTrust or download and install an antivirus program and run a complete scan. A list of online scanners is below, some however will only scan but not remove issues.

Online Virus Checkers
Trend Micro Housecall - will scan and remove threats
BitDefender Scan Online - will scan and remove threats
Ewido Online Scanner - will scan and remove threats
Panda Activescan - appears to only scan for but not remove threats
McAfee FreeScan - appears to only scan for but not remove threats
eTrust Antivirus Web Scanner - will scan and remove threats
Symantec Security Check - will scan and remove threats
Dr.Web Online Check - user can upload and test for threats on particular files

Trojan Scanner
TrojanScan by WindowsSecurity.com

Free Antivirus Programs to Download
ANTI-VIR
AVAST
AVG

You may also want to run a thorough scan for adware/spyware using Ad-aware SE, Spybot Search and Destroy, or Windows Defender as well to make sure your system is absolutely clean of other malware.

Congratulations! Your computer should be free of the WinAntivirus Pro 2007, PestCapture, or other similar bogus spyware removal tool and problems.