• Nasty ads from a nasty program 11/2/05
• The unwilling spam king 10/26/05
• A Better Internet? Not really. 10/19/05
• Putting the BargainBuddy dog to sleep 10/12/05
• P2P files: you can't trust 'em 10/5/05
• Not even repair shops are safe 9/28/05
• Sharing your PC can be hazardous to its health 9/21/05
• Wolves in sheep's clothing 9/14/05
• Burned by Freeze.com 9/7/05
• See you in hell, 180search Assistant 8/31/05

Download.com users are no strangers to the frightening world of spyware. Each week, we'll share a new reader tale of spyware woe, so check back frequently for each terrifying episode.

Watch your bank

I was talked into trying my bank's supersecure online banking system. It sounded really nice; you could pay your bills without leaving your home, or deposit money directly into someone else's account. Then someone sent me an e-mail that honestly looked like it came from my bank. Upon reading the message, I realized otherwise. The bank supposedly lost all my account information and needed me to e-mail it all back. Yeah, right. Of course I did not comply and swiftly cancelled my online banking experience.

But that's not all...

About three months later, I ran Spy Sweeper on my computer. It found what it called a "ghost keylogger." I clicked for information about this mysterious ghost keylogger, and Spy Sweeper said this form of spyware keeps track of every keystroke made on a computer--which included my username and password for the online banking site--and periodically e-mails that information to an undisclosed account. But I cancelled, so no big deal, right?

The next bank statement I received showed the bank never actually cancelled my online banking account and that it was still active. That was late Saturday night, and, of course, the banks were closed on Sunday.

--Edward
Indiana, U.S.A.

Ugh. We got goose bumps just reading this story, so we wouldn't be surprised if you told us your flesh was crawling when you opened that bank statement. We sincerely hope all your funds were intact when you contacted your bank.

Discovering a keylogger on your PC is likely one of the most terrifying experiences a Web surfer can have, particularly if you regularly engage in online baking or e-commerce (and most people do these days). Though there's a lot of semantic hair-splitting currently going on as to what constitutes adware and what constitutes spyware, any program that contains a keylogger is unquestionably the latter.

Users who are new to online banking or who are just getting into shopping on the Web should go no further without downloading several antispyware programs, particularly one with a real-time monitoring shield. Those who have been playing with fire and routinely submitting personal information to the Web without first arming their PCs also should immediately cease. Folks who fall into the latter camp may even want to regularly call their banks just to make sure no shady transactions have occurred. These types of white-collar crimes are sure to increase by leaps and bounds in the coming years, but conscientious surfers can drastically cut their chances of becoming victims.

--Download.com editors

Got your own spyware horror story you'd like to share? Let us hear it.