Beware the fake Firefox Web site
All computer users

Zango is back under a new name, "Pinball Corp", and they're back at it pushing Hotbar on unsuspecting surfers. Hotbar, as most of you know, is one of the most well-known spyware programs ever.

It appears that Pinball Corp. (formerly Zango) is paying affiliates $1.45 per download to push Hotbar on unwary users, and one particularly crafty developer has decided to make a quick buck by creating a fake Firefox site that is almost an exact duplicate of www.getfirefox.com . If you look closely at the site you'll see the word "phishing" is misspelled "pishing" and the site touts Firefox 3.5 as the latest version - the latest version of Firefox is 3.6.

While Pinball Corp. is not directly responsible for the fake Firefox site, its aggressive marketing and high per-download payout of $1.45 enables people to make a lot of money pushing spyware. This is another example that everything is not what it appears to be on Web. We're not going to give the URL to the fake Firefox site, but it's very close to www.getfirefox.com - which is the legitimate Firefox site.

At $1.45 per download, there are going to be a lot of people signing up for Pinball Corp's affiliate program. And every single download a Webmaster can push on an unsuspecting visitor, puts $1.45 in his or her pocket. The $1.45 payout is extremely high and demonstrates just how much money there is in distributing spyware - and why there is so much spyware and adware on the Web.

To verify you're on the correct site all you have to do is look at your browser's address bar. Everyone makes typos and those out to make money from your errors know what these common typos are and will create fake Web sites designed to make them a lot of money and cause you a lot of grief. Never assume you're on the correct Web site - it takes only a second to look at your browser's address bar and verify that the site you're on is the right one.

Always take a minute and look to make sure you're on the correct site - never assume that because it looks legitimate that it is legitimate. It's very easy to clone a Web site. Taking a few extra seconds to glance at your browser's address bar may save you a lot of grief down the road.