Searching for World Cup info? Beware scam results spreading 'scareware'

As the 2010 World Cup reaches its climax this weekend, hundreds of millions of football fans are busy scouring the Web for news on the globe's biggest sporting event -- and cyber-criminals are waiting for them to make one wrong click.

Security experts had been predicting a bonanza for online scammers in the months leading up to the tournament, and they haven't been disappointed.

PandaLabs, the anti-malware laboratory of Panda Security, is warning consumers of search engine manipulation tactics that redirect users surfing for World Cup news and videos toward sites promoting fake anti-virus software. This malicious software, more commonly known as Scareware, fools users into believing their computers have been infected by a virus and tricks them into purchasing useless software to fix the non-existent problem -- often infecting the machine with malware in the process.