RIP-OFF ALERT: We've all been so browbeaten into watching for viruses on our computers that it was only a matter of time before crooks wised up and started creating viruses that actually mimic common anti-virus warnings.

That's the idea behind what's called "scareware," which are bogus virus warnings that actually load a virus on your computer when you click on them! You don't even have to download anything. You're caught from the minute you click on the impostor pop-up window that supposedly alerts you to an existing virus!

Executive producer Christa recently had her computer compromised by a pop-up that masqueraded as a virus warning from Norton Antivirus. It even displayed a virus count as many popular antivirus programs will do.

So if you see a pop-up window that seems to be from your antivirus program, don't click on it. Instead, go directly to the antivirus or spyware program on your desktop and run it from there so it can find any security threats.

Clark particularly likes SpyBot Search and Destroy for protecting his computer. It's a free download that asks for contributions, but they're not required.

Finally, Christa also recommends having multiple browsers like Firefox, Chrome and others. The idea is that you can still try navigating around the web even if scareware hits your usual browser.

For additional spyware and scareware protection, see our list of other free downloads.