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Court Shuts Down Alleged $120M Tech Support Scam
wiredmikey writes A federal court has temporarily shut down and frozen the assets of two telemarketing operations accused by the FTC of scamming customers out of more than $120 million by deceptively marketing computer software and tech support services. According to complaints filed by the FTC, since at least 2012, the defendants used software designed to trick consumers into believing there were problems with their computers and then hit them with sales pitches for tech support products and services to fix their machines.
According to the FTC, the scams began with computer software that claimed to improve the security or performance of the customer's computer. Typically, consumers downloaded a free, trial version of the software that would run a computer system scan. The scan always identified numerous errors, whether they existed or not. Consumers were then told that in order to fix the problems they had to purchase the paid version of the software for between $29 and $49. In order to activate the software after the purchase, consumers were then directed to call a toll-free number and connected to telemarketers who tried to sell them unneeded computer repair services and software, according to the FTC complaint. The services could cost as much as $500, the FTC stated.
According to the FTC, the scams began with computer software that claimed to improve the security or performance of the customer's computer. Typically, consumers downloaded a free, trial version of the software that would run a computer system scan. The scan always identified numerous errors, whether they existed or not. Consumers were then told that in order to fix the problems they had to purchase the paid version of the software for between $29 and $49. In order to activate the software after the purchase, consumers were then directed to call a toll-free number and connected to telemarketers who tried to sell them unneeded computer repair services and software, according to the FTC complaint. The services could cost as much as $500, the FTC stated.
did this take so long to occur. It amazes me both that people fall for this, and that the credit card companies allow these services to operate under merchant accounts.
If we consider the aggregate harm of these scams, they're on the order of mass murder, possibly up there with actual war. Thus the punishment should fit the crime. It's not even like these people have the Moist von Lipwig excuse of scamming the scammers.
The FTC is at least good for something
This sounds a lot like getting medical treatment in America.
Just change a few words and multiply the numbers:
Typically, consumers downloaded a free, trial version of the software. The business analysts always identified numerous suboptimal business processes, whether they existed or not. Consumers were then told that in order to fix the problems they had to purchase the paid version of the software for between $290,000 and $490,000. In order to customize the software after the purchase, consumers were then directed to call a certified partners network and connected to consultants who tried to sell them unneeded upgrades and tools. The services could cost as much as $500 per hour.
...and you get a typical SAP implementation scenario.
lucm, indeed.
I kind of figure something was up when PC Cleaner said my linux machine had currupt entries in the registry; but al you can say is P.T. Barnum was right, there is a sucker born every minute.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
your windows computer has a virus" But I don't run windows, I have Linux.
Given that: 1) people were actually spending money with strangers who called them on the phone, and 2) how many home Windows machines are infested with malware, this shows that you could make a hell of a lot of money by modifying the operation just slightly--have people download legitimate scanning software which would only report real problems. You trade away some of your profit margin in exchange for not going to jail. (Granted, you might still run afoul of telemarketing regulations, but that's a whole lot less serious than fraud, civil vs criminal.)
BOTH of this shit companies have damaged clients of mine and cost them insane amounts of money to repair the crap they broke.
Luckily they never got far enough in with my customers that they could damage their backups. So actual business data loss was minimal...
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Fraud and a ponzi scheme are no different. Maybe Charlie Manson wants to consummate his marriage second hand since he's not allowed conjugal visits.
The consequences of free speech is the prevalence lies, sigh...
"Hello I am being Jim and I am with the Microsoft. I am calling you to tell you that your computer is infested with the viruses."
Alternately it's "The Internet" rather than "The Microsoft". (For some reason, you have to include the "The" both for Microsoft and viruses.)
Man, they're annoying. I'm not sure why I find them more unbearable than the usual offshore telemarketer. Perhaps because the lies are so brazen. The last time, I asked him if his mother knows he cheats people out of money for a living? He insisted no, he's trying to help me! He got really excited about it. Probably because he desperately needed this call's rupee for food that night.
Surveying friends and family (including a couple hundred facebook friends), calls at first seemed random, but in more recent months, appear to specifically be targeting people over 50. The most recent calls have asked for me by name. This leads me to believe that they're using someone's pilfered (or purchased?) address list. Has AARP had any breaches lately?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
right?
about those ehow, fixya, and driverguide sites appearing as priority matches.
Agreed. They desperately need to burn in hell.
I've been blessed by customers who contact me when they get suspicious calls or emails, and can be trained to not click on scareware popups. When a computer is infected, it's almost always because someone's kid got access to it. But I still deeply resent these scam calls. They're directly interfering with *my* livelihood!
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
SERIOUSLY, just kill them. Just rip their intestines out and hang them by them. I am so fucking sick of people walking into my repair shop and telling me I'm wrong, they're not scammers, they didn't fall for anything, and they don't want to lose their alleged lifetime membership to unlimited support. In fact, everyone stupid enough to fall for this bullshit should be thrown into a volcano with the people who originally did it.
Maybe Charlie Manson wants to consummate his marriage second hand since he's not allowed conjugal visits.,/i>
Go ahead. You stick your wang in that bit o crazy. I'll pass.
I work in tech support for a very large computer company known for it's expensive but easy to use machines ("Have you tried turning it off and on?"). I speak to maybe a hundred and fifty people a week - at least I think they're people. Some days I'm not sure. Every month I talk to between 2 to 4 people who granted some unknown person with a foreign accent full administrative remote access into their machine. When I try to explain to them what they've done and how the person conceivably could have had access to and downloaded all their stored information including passwords , etc I am always - yes always - met with the telephonic equivalent of a blank stare. The people who fall for this scan are inevitably, invariably, unremittingly - stupid.
Just this very week I talked to someone who fell for the remote access scam and asked me, "What should I do now?" I am not allowed to give specific guidance (I know) but I do tell them what I mentioned above and let them know that spyware could conceivably have been left to transmit back things like their bank passwords when they log on. I told the person that if it were me I would disconnect from the internet until I had completely erased my machine and reinstalled the operating system. The response - "Oh I don't know if I can go without the internet for that long". I have long ago exhausted any remaining sympathy for people who fall for this. One day I shall leave technical support and once again regain my soul.
That we don't prosecute enough false advertising and deception with intent to defraud claims!
It's hard to blame the root cause of the problem on anything but the current levels of corruption infesting our Government. Instead of agencies built to enforce regulations doing what they are intended, they are investigating bullshit to make corporations more and more money and keep the cronies in office so that their circle continues to have revenue while the "common" people suffer.
Yup, stories like yours are a shame. These scams have been known about for at least 4-5 years (if you don't remember the my clean PC bullshit.. well, you could be a n00b), but instead of putting these shitbags out of business we have agencies focusing on Youtube videos that have background audio of a song, or grandma downloading a free MP3 file, or heaven forbid a goddamn whistle blower that must be lambasted and castrated.
Don't get me wrong, "Greed" is a problem but it's a problem we have known about for at least as long as we have been able to write and read. The whole point of Government is to enforce regulation and prosecute snake oil salesmen to protect the populace from greedy fucks that gain power (in some/any form). The fact that this shit has gone on for this long demonstrates that our Government is a failure. Massive bureaucracies are a failure! (The problems with journalism today, or more properly the lack thereof, fall into these categories so I can't blame them separately).
I'll get off my soap box now.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
This kind of fraud is much like multi-level marketers and other spammers.I'm afraid that those fradulent companies which are even less traceable, and have overseas offices to avoid US prosecution, will fill the ecological niche very quickly.
PDFCreator used to be bloatware burdened, then cleaned up their act for a few years. They're now back to including at least *six* different "optimizer" tools, all of which pollute your web traffic with ads, many of which are pulling exactly this sort of "oh no, you're infested!!! send us a check quick to save your PC!!!" when the only infestation is, in fact, their software.
Sadly, the top Google hits for how to get rid of this cruft are now sites that, themselves, are installing and charging for just this sort of fraudulent scanner and optimizer.
The point of this story is NOT that scamming companies sold suckers fake anti-virus programs. The REAL point is that after the sheeple purchased the software, the companies then went after the mark with every means available, targeting HUNDREDS of more dollars from the suckers bank account.
This is a LESSON every one of you here needs to learn. You cannot walk backwards a little in order to appease a monster, and by 'monster' we mean ANYONE who has sought a position of power- church, business, government, military- the pattern of sociopathy in active power seekers is identical.
When you 'vote', no matter who you vote for, you 'vote' for the system- you APPROVE of the system, and in the USA that 'system' means the largest (and growing) war machine the Human Race has ever witnessed. Voting, or giving these Microsoft enabled scammers your time and/or money- its the same mistake. It's beta and lower sheeple putting their 'faith' in the system- and that simply empowers the system.
Expect a new law FORBIDDING Microsoft from placing remote access software as default in Windows installations? Hahahahahahahahahahaha! You think these things happen by accident. Every person you vote for who has ANY chance of actually gaining power LOVES the NSA, and all the abuses NSA friendly entities like Microsoft and Google enable.
The criminals, like these scammers, simply exploit the cracks that your masters DEMAND run throughout every aspect of your life. What you can 'see' (as in is made aware to you by reports like this one) are bad enough. Won't you remain (mostly) unaware of is far worse.
Bill Gates is Common Core. Bill Gates is inBloom (now a key part of NSA total surveillance). Bill Gates is EUGENICS- you know, that wonderful pseudo science that the American elite proudly gave to the Nazis and Japanese during the 1920s and 30s, leading to some of the worst atrocities in Human History. Gates' family has a LONG history in Eugenics.
Gates built the disgusting system that allows your grandparents to be robbed blind when Microsoft trained and approved scammers, using Microsoft provided info about personal Windows installations, make their criminal phone calls.
There are two kinds of Humans. Those that see the vulnerable as people in need of protecting- and those that see the vulnerable in need of FLEECING.
Bill Gates partnered with Rupert 'Fox News' Murdoch to create the obscene inBloom system. Each Xmas, Murdoch sends his friends an Xmas card that depicts the various mainstream news outlets as 'FOXES', and depicts YOU the morons that watch/read such services as 'SHEEP'. Too stupid to believe this? Go spend 30 seconds Googling and confirm it for yourself.
Now perhaps you'll get WHY it is so important to Gates that Windows is the cause of so many vulnerable people being FLEECED by criminal scumbag partners of MS. Never give a sucker an even break.
...but is that one of the scammers that was shut down?
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
Have I answered your questions satisfactorily and offered good customer service?!
http://cart.mn/CstmrServc
I cannot wait until the Republican Congress gets the government out of the way and lets small businesses get on with their work.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
...in his ear. He said a problem was detected on my Window's computer. Being every box in my house is running one Linux distro or another I had a problem picking myself up off the floor. Just think of how many people would fall for these scams if everyone really had Window's on some device in their house.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Sure, throw a little gasoline on the fire. Fantastic.
Please return to the underside of your bridge so that we don't have to hear about this brand-spanking new hosts file that APK has discovered. Pretty soon, he'll tell us how to put our Shields Up on the internet, how to Spin our disks Rite, how to disable (Shoot) The Messenger, and wax longingly about Win32 ASM and wave his small binaries in our faces. I bet APK uses WinASM also. Yup, APK will turn into a one man hype machine, just like that other guy... I wonder if they are related?
Then they have to hire a real support tech to fix their computer. But they don't demand a refund on the faulty software.
I agree completely. We need a law that says simply: It shall be illegal to do any misleading advertising.
Financial penalties would rapidly escalate and repeated offences would subject company owners to jail time.
The offender would be required to publish in a similar venue a statement admitting to, and apologizing for, the misleading advertising.
The test of misleading would be if average people would believe something untrue after viewing the ad.
As recently as this week I've still been getting one of those goddamn calls every couple days. I just hang up on them, usually after saying something along the lines of "Do me a favor and kindly jump up your own ass."
My father gets them too... He likes to string the bastards along for a while though. Constantly asking them stuff like where they're calling from and why, requesting specifics until he catches them contradicting themselves and then tells them off and hangs up. (Personally, it drives me nuts listening to him do that, I'm just like "Oh my god hang up on those assholes already!") He does the same thing to the medicaid scam phonecalls but those are far less frequent.
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
If this was those idiots "calling from Microsoft" with the unintelligible Indian accents, stupid scripts and potatoe-grade VOIP connection, drone strikes are too good for the lot of them.
Let's see...
Bank Of America sells mortgages to people, then uses a sudden burst of fees the home owner cant afford to pay, and as a result BOA re-possesses the home.
Mainstream media like to sell you the idea that they are reporting news, but in fact it's really propaganda. Courts have rulled on this "entertainment".
Federal Reserve would have you believe the money is real, but it's not.
I could go on like this all day long.
This is just another example of government interference in the market place and driving free enterprise out of business! Let the industry regulate its self!
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Making ac trolls like you look stupid since you can't prove them wrong such as http://news.slashdot.org/comme... where you and yours, ac trolls, are helpless against apk (hence your gossiping old lady tactics here)
"... Then they fight you and apk wins" since trolls can't prove apk wrong http://news.slashdot.org/comme...
In flames (see subject): This always does the job nicely for apk on that account http://yro.slashdot.org/commen... and you weak useless "ne'er-do-well" effete trolls can't do a damn thing against it... hahaha.
I wonder if everyone who knows these calls are a scam were to do the following, if it would kill their throughput enough to stop them: "Hold on a minute... my computer is off. It's a little slow to boot. I'm going to put you down for a minute, just hold on, I'll be right back." Then just put the phone down on a table and walk away.
Of course, once enough people were using this exact scam on the scammers, they'd know that anyone giving them this routine was to be hung up on. I'm certainly not willing to invest any time stringing them along to keep them busy.
It's a shame. I'd love to get one over on these jack asses. I get two or three calls "from Microsoft" a year now. I did get a chuckle out of the last one, where the guy told my wife he was calling from Microsoft, she replied only, "No you're not", and they hung up without evening anything else.
I helped an old lady who got scammed. The credit card companies told us that we had to contact the scammers and ask them not to charge us. (What a joke) Then they told her, they needed the IT guy to send them a letter confirming she was actaully scammed, because apparently her word isn't good enough. The credit card companies don't give a damn, and don't take fraud seriously at all.
I don't believe you.
So I read the article. Then did a whois on 2 of the domains. This can be interesting at times, because some people don't register their domain anonymously. Seems to me if you are scamming people you should.
All it take is a little work with whois and google maps. Wow, Nice house or gas station..
They call me regularly to tell me there's a problem with my Windows computer and they wish to help me. I really like stringing them along.. Sorry, but my Linux desktop doesn't have a Windows key.
The day Microsoft creates a product that doesn't suck, it will be known as the Microsoft Vaccuum Cleaner!
ESET is the Common Denominator with many India based Telemarketing Scams.
I think most anti-virus companies are just slightly less greedy or they'd be running the same scams.
ESET is the Common Denominator with many India based Telemarketing Scams.
...but instead of putting these shitbags out of business...
You seem to be assuming that they're operating from countries with competent law enforcement available to cooperate with ours, and that they stay in one place long enough to find them. Both assumptions are incorrect.
Your straw man is not a very good one. If you read TFA you would have seen that _all_ of the companies in the decisions are US companies.
As part of the legal maneuver, the state of Florida joined the FTC in filing two separate cases against companies who allegedly sold the bogus software and the telemarketers who sold the unnecessary tech support services. In the first case, the defendants selling software include PC Cleaner Inc.; Netcom3 Global Inc.; Netcom3 Inc., also doing business as Netcom3 Software Inc.; and Cashier Myricks, Jr. The telemarketing defendants include Inbound Call Experts LLC; Advanced Tech Supportco. LLC; PC Vitalware LLC; Super PC Support LLC; Robert D. Deignan; Paul M. Herdsman; and Justin M. Wright.
In the second case, the defendants selling software include Boost Software Inc. and Amit Mehta, and the telemarketing defendants include Vast Tech Support LLC, also doing business as OMG Tech Help, OMG Total Protection, OMG Back Up, downloadsoftware.com, and softwaresupport.com; OMG Tech Help LLC; Success Capital LLC; Jon Paul Holdings LLC; Elliot Loewenstern; Jon-Paul Vasta; and Mark Donahue.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Your straw man is not a very good one. If you read TFA you would have seen that _all_ of the companies in the decisions are US companies.
Yes, but... Those are the companies which our government DID shutdown. Your post that I responded to was complaining about the government not shutting down such scams. So if you really want to get picky like this, your argument itself was a misdirection. So, show me the scammers that are operating out of the USA, and which the FTC is not taking action against.
What? Not got any examples? Because the ones still being run are in India? Yep, thought so.
What? Not got any examples? Because the ones still being run are in India? Yep, thought so.
The examples are in the complaints that took YEARS to receive any action on. There is no reasonable or efficient mechanism for dealing with these companies in the US. How long were each of those companies listed in the order operating in the US? Some were operating for as long as a decade, so perhaps you should validate facts before attempting to claim that everything scam related is from overseas.
Researching a few facts is all that is required to demonstrate that your arguments are invalid.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.