Spyware encounters of the worst kind

It's unfortunate that very talented people feel they have to create destructive programs like Spyware and Viruses, when they could put all that talent to much better use. Recently two of my neighbors were victims of these destructive programs and asked me to look at their computers. They were seeing messages that their PC's were infected and that they should enter their credit card numbers and purchase software that would get rid of the viruses. Luckily, they did not give up their credit card information.

The PC's were infected with PC Antispyware 2010 and PC Security 2009 two nasty viruses. If you catch these viruses early, you can remove both of these by booting into safe mode, installing Malwarebytes free version, running the scanner and rebooting your PC. But the longer they are on your PC, they harder they are to remove. My neighbors PC's had the viruses for well over a week. So I had to use a three step approach (sometimes only step 1 and 3 are required to repair, I would try that first).

Step 1, boot into safe mode.
Step 2 download and run Combofix (read the instructions and follow them to the letter)
Step 3 download and install Malwarebytes, run the scan and reboot

These procedures work in most cases (and I haven't had to reinstall an OS yet) but do take time and patience. Use these procedures with caution.

One last note, if you are interested in a good reference about Spyware and Viruses you can read more at BleepingComputer.