Beware pop-under ads! Are you protected?

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Recently MyLot seem to have introduced pop-under ads. These silently open a new window which you generally see only when you close your browser. Now, I have no objection to MyLot making money from advertising, indeed, if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to pay us! What I do object to, however, are certain advertising methods which are invasive and also adverts which promote something which is known to be a scam. I have discontinued using some sites, such as Yuwie because I find it intrusive to have to view (and close) an ad every time I go to a new page. MyLot have, I believe, experimented with this method but I haven't seen it for a while, so I believe that they may have dropped it in favour of the pop-under ad. Pop-under ads are less intrusive (because they don't interfere so much with working) but are quite effective because you see a whole page of information which appears to be targeted, so that I see ads that are somewhat relevant to my interests and the country I live in. Each MyLot member is likely to see a different ad. What worries me, though, is the quality of the service that MyLot seem to have chosen. Since they began using this service, I have had at least two alerts from Avast! (my AV program) warning of Trojan attempts - in other words, the ad was actually attempting to install a trojan on my machine without me even seeing or clicking on the page! When I realised what was happening and where it came from, you can be sure that I sent a strong message to MyLot because that kind of ad is a downright danger to members! Today I received another kind of threat which is not the kind of thing I expect from MyLot. This ad was headed "Google UK Hiring People In Cambridge To Work From Home". It looks like a News service page (in fact it is headed 'News6 Insider') but it is, in fact, an ad for a company called Wealth Connection offering work from home jobs in which, it claims, you are employed by Google and can earn $250+ a day for only 4 hours work a day! I very nearly signed up for it because it seemed so convincing but my suspicions were aroused and I thought I would check for more information and for Google's official line on this. It turns out that this is an out-and-out scam and actually a pack of lies! Google DO NOT hire home workers and have nothing to do with Wealth Connection, as the site (or rather the 'article' in News6 Insider) suggests. What I found is that there are many warnings about Google Wealth Connections online and that Google are taking steps to prevent the company from making false claims about their association with Google. Here is a blog article (not mine) which exposes the scam: http://needmoneyblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/need-money-scam-google-money-system.html . [b]I'm sorry that this is such a long topic but please read it, if you can, before answering! What I would like to know is: 1) What is your feeling about MyLot delivering this kind of ad? 2) What steps have you taken to protect yourself from trojans and other malware which install without asking? 3) How much research do you do on a site before you sign up? Do you always read the Terms and Conditions? Do you ever search the Web, for example, using the site name and the word 'scam' after it? [/b]