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FTC Shuts Down Fraudulent Antispyware Company
spewey writes "The Federal Trade Commission has shut down MaxTheater, Inc., alleging the company participated in fraudulent practices with its Spyware Assassin site, which purportedly scanned user machines for spyware and reported infections, even though no scan was done and in most cases, the user machine was clean. The site then offered the user a $30 product to remove the spyware, which the commission reports 'didn't do a thing.'"
with its Spyware Assassin site
I'm getting a blank page with the title "New Page 1"
Here is a google cache.
I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
> in most cases, the user machine was clean.
Yeah, right. Where the hell did they get clean windoze boxen from??
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
FTA:
"[MaxTheatre's Media] represent that they have "scanned" or otherwise examined the consumer's computer and have detected that spyware already resides on it."
I smell precedence!
Almost every single pop-up ad proclaims to have found spyware on my machine, and not all of them are SpywareAssassin. Can we use this to take down other phony antispyware companies?
You're confused. The FTC is probably one of the most useful and generally non-sucky government agencies. It's like the various state attorney generals offices on a larger scale. Bascailly all they do is shut down scams and the like. You're thinking of the evil that is the F*C*C. No relation, other than both being government agencies.
TODO: Something witty here...
And so on... Any others?
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
The FTC should have put up an 0WN3D message explaining why the site was taken down, and what to do if you were defrauded by the company in the past.
Much more informative than a blank page, and it's what the MPAA does for sites it takes down (ie. lokitorrent.com)
Then again spywareassassin.com still resides at the same IP address (66.172.78.113) that it did before, so the order was probably to remove all content. Perhaps an A record change or domain transfer to an FTC controlled server (with informational message) is iminent.
- Cary
--Fairfax Underground: Where Fairfax County comes out to play
There needs to be SEVERE penalties to discourage others from picking up where this left off. I vote for jail time for the company executives AND those developers who knew exactly what they were doing (or in this case, weren't doing).
The risk/reward ratio is still tilting too far toward reward for those who would defraud others using the internet.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
From the website (google cache):
SpywareAssassin creates an iron clad line of defense that protects your computer in multiple ways. Not only will it scan your entire system and remove all spyware programs and files, but it will continually monitor your computer in the background and prevent any future breaches.
IRON CLAD? Iron-Clad in ANY software description makes me run for the hills!
I'm glad to see spyware assassin gone, but the extortionware I see most on computers I work on is ad destroyer. Let's hope the FTC b!tch slaps them next.
for adding to your hosts file (if you havent already)
h tm
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.
The FTC did not try to shut down spyware. They shut down a site that pretended to clean people's computers of spyware.
Portland, North Dakota Puppies
Don't all those ads saying "Your computer is infected! Clean it now!" (or something like that) and "Windows is running slow! speed it up Blah blah blah bullshit bullshit" fall into this same category?
Hopefully this will have a positive affect for those of us who develop free software but have to constantly deal with the paranoia of malware and spyware.
Free Firefox news reader.
CoolWebSearch / Adzilla / Look2Me / Miraclesearch?
Personally I see this as doing really nothing for (or against) spyware.
Honestly, when I read this, I had flashbacks to all of those TV news investigative reports of mechanics, exterminators, plumbers, etc. who climb under/behind your car/sink/house and come back with "evidence" of a problem that you need to pay them $$$ to fix.
So... back to the auto shops with the bums! That's what I say! :)
Buy anti-spyware software and get a product that does nothing.
......
Use free anti-spyware software and get something that works.
On a risk level, is it worth spending the money?
Now I know there was research done between Free and commercial anti-spyware that showed that free software worked better, but
I guess this is a real strong statement regarding obvious motives between the two...
Besides, should anyone have to pay for protection against thse with intents to invade privacy?
What a racket.... Now If I can just convince someone to turn off the MS anti-spyware update notices intrupting my work flow.
Everyone responsible needs to be put in prison. We need to send a message that you can't hide criminals behind a corporate logo.
I'll be willing to answer your question, but first I need to know whether you are a troll, or just stupid. If the latter, I am willing to spend the time to enlighten you. If the latter, fuck off.
Which is it?
Neopets - the best free game on the Int
Except there is no way of PROVING that the "healing rock" does NOT actually heal some people.
As far as I know with software it is a little easier to test it to see exactly what it does and does not do. If it claims to "remove spyware" and does not, it is a pretty open and shut case that the company selling it is misrepresenting what it does.
What post? The one you're carrying inside your rusty innards!
I'd call it "moronware". It's designed to troll for idiot users who believe everything they see and fall for stupid schemes. We can lump the Nigerians into this category too, with their stupid cashier's check and phony inheiritence schemes.
I've said before, I really have less of a problem with these types of unscrupulous operations. They're like financial darwinism, and anyone stupid enough to fall for them deserves to be separated from their money.
Ironically, there are lots of other schemes that defraud the populace that are based on deception that are protected by the government. I look at this crackdown as the government protecting idiots from small-time operators so that big corporations can continue to prey on them.
Wake me up when the FTC starts cracking down on the overwhelming deceptive ad practices of all the major U.S. corporations.
there's being "dumb enough to buy it", then there is due diligence said consumer should have used before making a purchse. having said that, on the part of the company claiming to sell a 'spirit healing rock', they are not allowed to fradulently misrepresent the product they sell or service they offer. in spyware assassin's case, they misrepresented the product and knowingly profited from selling a bad product, regardless of a dumb consumer.
These are the guys that made Spyware Assassin. Their other products should be next...
twits. But then again it's handy that criminals are stupid by default, it makes them easier to catch.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
How can you prove that this scan does not remove some spyware from some people?
I am trolling
As long as you don't lead people to believe that it actually heals anything, go ahead. You can't lie in order to make a sale. See: False Advertising
That's not government interference, that's enforcement of basic standards. That's best for everybody.
If someone wants to buy a "spirit healing rock" from me, why shouldn't he be able to? If he's dumb enough to buy it, well, what do they say about a fool and his money?
There's a difference between making vague, general, or unproveable claims (one way or another) and outright fraud. A "spirit healing rock" can't be tested to prove what it actually does. You could advertise the rock as "using mystical powers to make you feel better" and probably get away with it. But the moment you slap on a claim that is demonstrably false like "this rock uses mystical powers to cure cancer" then you are committing fraud and will likely get busted.
And while it's awfully popular right now to complain about "government interfering with business", I think that most people realize that a certain amount of "interference" (Republican-speak for "oversight") is desirable to protect the populace from criminaly fraudulent behavior. I don't recall anybody complaining about government interfering with business in cases like Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, Healthsouth, Global Crossing, etc. Neither do I recall much complaining when the government bailed out the airlines after 9/11 to keep them in business.
Actually you are wrong.
Typically you'll see 'these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to cure, prevent or treat any disease.'
Perhaps two wrongs do make a right?
No API calls that modify the registry, or to unlink files?
no filesystem activity at all while scanning?
that sort of thing.
Wow, that's a hellova pr0n list there. You've just made my saturday night!
Go ahead and read the 'sales pitch' on this pig and try to keep a straight face. Bottom feeders here, folks. i love me some generalized, buzzword-ridden, sales pitches for junks that will:
Exponentially explode your online sales like you have never imagined!
Well damn, who could pass that up eh? Shady-tree ops indeed.
Coupla solid Ben'$ on a bet you will be sorry for doing "biz" with these fools.
Yeah, that's who these ho'tards appear to be DNSed from - looks like my profits and penis will be larger "within minutes"!!!!
Hot Damn! Call the bank, i can cover my overdue loans now!!!!
w00tz!
But....but....but...what about the double-taxation that people with standard corporations have to pay (if they're not smart enough to plan around it)? Isn't that worth any number of scams? Ok, I'll be back later, time to pry my tongue out of my cheek.
"Your Computer Is Broadcasting An IP Address!!"
"Your House Is Broadcasting A Street Address!!"
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
But then again it's handy that criminals are stupid by default, it makes them easier to catch.
No, its just the stupid (and unlucky) criminals that get caught. You never hear about the smart ones, almost by definition.
"You saved 1968." - Ms. Valerie Pringle to the crew of Apollo 8
>You're thinking of the evil that is the
>F*C*C. No relation, other than both being
>government agencies.
Yeah. The FCC is currently controlled by the Servants of Cthulhu, while the FTC is run by the Bavarian Illuminati. Completely different.
(Note to self: Stop visiting sjgames.com just before posting to Slashdot....)
This is exactly the kind of anti-market government regulation we don't need! If customers don't like the service Spyware Assassin is providing, they can consider the alternatives made available to them in a purported free market. With a Republican administration in power, I would have hoped for better.
On vit, on code et puis on meurt.
I'm curious whether there is any good Open Source anti-spyware. Personally whenever I use windows, I go with Spybot, but I'd feel much more confortable with a OSS one, instead of one that is proprietary.
:)
P.S.: I know "Linux" is a F/OSS anti-spyware. Save it, you'd be speaking to the converted anyway.
As another related question...why is it more expensive to be poor than rich?
Actually, it's more expensive to be rich. Most people incur expenses that are outside their ability to afford, and they do it roughly proportional to their incomes. As a function of dollars per capita, it's much more expensive to be rich.
(Note: "Poor" = 15,000-30,000 gross income, "Rich" = 60,000-500,000 gross income. People who make more or less than that skew the results.)
I got my Linux laptop at System76.
So when are they going to send those scumbags from ISTBar to the electric chair?
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
and the feeling I had - there was something fishy about it. Even if I've cleaned my machine with several freeware utilities, it has reported about 20 potential problems. It has pointed on one file, as infected with virus which was a text file, one of the info files for GNU Emacs. So I have deleted whatever I've downloaded and forgot the whole story - till I saw this news.
Sure, Spyware Assasian did nothing, but there are even worse pseudo-anitspyware products out there. The article links to this chart, where PC Mag found spyware removal tools that added additional spyware or did things that aren't real good for Windows, like delete one of the driver folders.
So it looks like there are even shadier companies out there
I have blog like everyone else
Well, spirit healing rocks fall under the general category of religion. There are special exceptions in the constitution to specifically allow religious fraud.
Oh well, what the hell...
Was that falling for a troll, or a counter-troll? Perhaps you might have noticed that this was titled "The Libertarian Response"? Libertarians are neither Republicans nor Democrats. They're a different political party entirely, generally agreeing with liberals on issues pertaining to the individual (such as drugs, abortion, and so on), and agreeing with the conservatives on economic issues (such as fiscal responsibility (Bush aside), corporate regulation, and the minimum wage).
Commonly, libertarians make a distinction between the personal and economic aspects of liberal thought; the popular Nolan Chart makes the political spectrum a plane, rather than a line.
Or, as I usually put it: in legislative sessions, the Conservatives sit to the right, the Liberals sit on the left, and the Libertarians are the baboons swinging from the chandeliers. (And it's suprising how many Libertarians will cheerfully agree with that description when asked....)
The libertarian position stated was a trifle extreme... but does thus highlight the problems with the libertarian's more extreme free-market faction.
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
This is one of the few areas where libertarians want the government to get involved. It is a clear cut case of contract violation. They promised to remove spyway, and didn't do it. Simple violation of contract.
Libertarians are not anarchists. There is a time and place for government. Libertarians want government to deal with crimes against people (murder and other assult), property. (theft, vandalism), and enforcement of contracts. (This is not a complete list)
Yes, Libertarians believe in the enforcement of contracts. But I would guess most of them would rather see that enforcement take place through civil rather than criminal courts. They would argue that those wronged should sue the company (using the court to enforce the outcome of their lawsuit) rather than criminal penalties from a federal agency.
I have blog like everyone else
One of the greatest viral tools for distributing your digital products.
Wow, I've never seen a spyware maker admit they make a virus before!
I'm guessing this is supposed to be some sort of reference to viral marketing (word of mouth type thing), but you have to be a moron to include the word "viral" when you are describing a software product
I have blog like everyone else
Amen Brother
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
Of course there is. How do you think new drugs are teseted by the FDA? You seem to be jumping ahead to the "how" instead of the "if". Use a random rock as your placebo in a double-blind study, and do a chi-square analysis of the result. It's really very simple.
LOAD "SIG",8,1
They have a web-forum!
./ it?
Perhaps we could
My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
Once, when I was a working as one of those door to door salesmen, I picked up a interesting rock and proceeded to sell it to this guy for $10. I gave him all the benefits of this amazing rock and a detailed history behind it. He looked a little confused as to why this guy was trying to sell him a rock until I told him I would throw in a free torch! (which is what I was selling in the first place) ;)
So, you see, selling rocks isn't that bad
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Er, not in my experience. Libertarians, big fans of the 2nd that they are, generally say "If anything calls for guns ablazing, it's going to be my guns ablazing."
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
Ok, I'll grant that there might be some unseen criminal mastermind class that we never hear about because they never get caught - anything's possible, I guess. However, presumably then there'd also be people who almost didn't get caught - people who were caught only because law enforcement worked really, really hard or was lucky a few crucial times.
Where are those stories? Are they just not reported? (Or is this where we bring in the story of Al Capone, who beat every rap except tax evasion?)
Typically you'll see 'these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to cure, prevent or treat any disease.'
Or the ever-popular "intended only for entertainment purposes" on the phone-psychic commercials. That doesn't mean that the product is any more or less legitimate. That just means that the person selling it is willing to tack on a short disclaimer at the end that invalidates most of what they claimed previously in the hopes that a lot of people will believe the advertising and igonore the disclaimer.
Yes, and if the consumer chooses to ignore said disclaimer (which isn't hard to find in my experience), well...they're stupider then i thought.
I'd like to know: Ug need fire, because rival caveman stole his.
I don't moderate anymore. Karma penalty for 90% fair mods? Can I mod that unfair?
Yes, and if the consumer chooses to ignore said disclaimer (which isn't hard to find in my experience), well...they're stupider then i thought.
Right. But the problem here is that there wasn't a disclaimer. It was all advertising saying that SpywareAssasin offered "iron-clad" protection. Then a fake scan saying that you were infected, then a $30 fee to "clean" the infection that never existed in the first place. There's a huge difference there.
There...but way up the line, I was responding to the posters comments that spirit rocks are sold for healing purposes and it was legal to do so.
I was arguing the point that there are companies allowed to sell products with false advertising; I was mearly point out that healing rocks are not exempt.