Bogus Security Software Peddlers Fined $8.2 Million
by John Liste
Two men accused of scamming PC users into buying bogus security software have agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) an estimated $8.2 million. The money will go towards refunding the victims.
Fake security software and similar scams of this nature are known as "scareware" -- software which is purposely designed to scare users into making a purchase.
The scareware duo were made up of a father and son team. Maurice and Marc D'Souza are reported to have been involved in a massive scam that involved selling more than 1 million copies of fake security software to Windows users online. The FTC claims that Marc operated the scam, while Maurice profited from it. (Source: ftc.gov)
The $8.2 million payment is actually a settlement, which means that the pair have not formally admitted any wrongdoing. If either civil claims or criminal charges were to be brought against them, the case would have to be proven from scratch.
Read More Here
Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:12 pm