The BBC News Tchnology page is running this story at the moment about scareware merchants.

I recently had the misfortune to be dragged into repairing a pc that was running very slowly etc. The main reason was that someone in the family - and no-one will admit it - downloaded what they thought was an anti-virus program but that was actually just the opposite. It took me ages to sort it and I gave them a stern lecture on googling anything and everything before downloading!

It’s the same, but not as dangerous possibly, as those well meaning friends who send e-mails to everyone they know about the latest scam they’ve been told about via an email from one of their friends. (gosh that’s a long sentence). At first I would google the warning, find out it was a hoax then send the info to whoever had sent it to me - total waste of my time.

Q. Should all people be given lessons in the basics before even being allowed to turn on a pc? (That question is kinda tongue in cheek)