FreeScratchAndWin is a spyware program created by CPM Media (AdsCPM), Inc. and distributed by Xzoomy.  It is a Browser Hijacker, Trojan Downloader and a Toolbar.  It was first discovered on April 12 of 2005.  It is typically installed by an ActiveX drive-by download when visiting one of their affiliate sites.

It poses as an online scratch card game, but what you could win and if anyone has ever won has never been verified.

The first thing you may notice when you get infected is that it creates a toolbar on your browser and deactivates any other toolbars you may have.  This toolbar displays pop-up advertisements.

The Browser Hijacker element resets your home page either to Xzoomy.com or to Freescratchandwin.com.  It will also redirect your browsing activity to one of these sites, depending on the version you’ve been infected with.  It will also protest any attempt to get away from these pages.

Newer versions of FreeScratchAndWin are bundled with Lop adware.  These will try to redirect your browsing to Lop.com.  They are notoriously difficult to remove since they choose random file names.
The Trojan Downloader element will monitor your browsing activity and deliver ads based on your browsing history.  It will also download update files for FreeScratchAndWin, and possibly other files, not limited to adware or spyware.

This spyware program has no real value to the user.  There have been no verified winners of the game it professes to be, and it causes nothing but inconvenience to the user.  It uses up your system resources and redirects your browsing to sites that may be fraudulent.  You should definitely remove it with SpyZooka.

Also Known As:
free scratch cards, FSC2K, FSW, FSC

Associated Files:
updater.exe
xcxrseiq.dll
xtzdjknl.exe
xujykafs.exe
xustmryz.exe
FSW.EXE
support.exe
IdleUI.dll
fswinst.ocx
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunFSW
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{20A03A4C-9FAF-45D5-A5C2-B6C49774E03C}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{99B0B113-6F25-49C9-8ECF-2FDDD3EDFF6A}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTFSW_beta1.Application
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTFSW.Application
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTFswinst.Application