# There's such a thing called 'scareware'

Scareware is **a type of malware attack that claims to have detected a virus or other issue on a device and directs the user to download or buy malicious software to resolve the problem**. Generally speaking, scareware is the gateway to a more intricate cyberattack and not an attack in and of itself

![Some scareware attempts to mimic trusted sources like Google to fool you into clicking or downloading.](https://signal.avg.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Content/Avg/Signal/AVG%20Signal%20Images/What%20is%20scareware%20and%20how%20to%20remove%20it%20(Signal)/img_02.png?width=400&name=img_02.png align="left")