Okay, so we all know the story. Most computers are infected with some form of spyware at some point in time. Many of these are harmless tracking cookies trying to figure out what they might be able to sell to you. Rogue anti-spyware programs like Privacy Watcher are like the mafia of spyware. They are a closely knit family of organized crime.

When one guy comes up with something good in the world of spyware, you can expect everybody else to rob, steal, or borrow the idea from their comrades. If you aren't driven into a state of panic when you stumble across one of these free scans, take a moment to really read the content of the pop-up. It is almost like comedy gold when you look at all the grammar and syntactic errors. Don't you think that someone that was getting ready to create a revolutionary piece of software might cover their bases by appearing professional?

Many of the programs could be made by the same person who is just trying to cover all their bases with the ironic names that they come up with. I love some of the titles that these legitimate-looking programs like to call themselves. It almost seems to be a prophecy about what will happen to you when you stumble upon one of these programs. Privacy Watcher? Yeah, that's right. They can personally guarantee that they will be watching all of your private information, like a Peeping Tom who will let anyone in on the peep show with the right amount of money or connections.

Privacy Watcher comes to you in a Trojan, silently planting seeds in your system. Then one day you will see the pop-ups begin to generate, stating you have a high security risk and asking, "Do you want to try a free scan?" The scan starts without asking permission. It continues to badger you until you buy the “software” for almost twice the amount of money a good program costs.

When you purchase, Privacy Watcher will not install even an inkling of anti-spyware on your system. The pop-ups may stop, but what you just purchased was more spyware that will monitor your system, hijack your home page, give you false security warnings, and direct you to more sites with malware.

If you have gotten to this point, the most important thing is that you do not delete any of the supposed threats. They are not actually threats, but necessary files in your computer system that you need to keep your computer running correctly.

My advice would be to remove Privacy Watcher immediately. Your best bet is to find a program that is known for a high rate of success. Don't buy into the notion that you need to run two or three programs at once. Programs like Spyzooka have a robot running 24/7 free of human error picking up every definition, update, and newfound spyware at a moment's notice.