Washington, DC – English-speaking consumers heaved a sigh of relief as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a major international crackdown on tech support scams in which tens of thousands of consumers were allegedly tricked into paying for removal of bogus viruses and non-existent spyware, and allowing scammers to remotely access their computers, according to the FTC.
Announcing the crackdown at a press conference this week (Oct 3) in Washington DC, Chairman Jon Leibowitz said, “The FTC has been aggressive – and successful – in its pursuit of tech support scams.”
Leibowitz added, “And the tech support scam artists we are talking about today have taken scareware to a whole other level of virtual mayhem.”
The FTC, conducting a joint operation with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and the United Kingdom’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, unearthed the operations in which mostly India-based telemarketers masqueraded as major computer companies which targeted English-speaking consumers in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK, in order to con consumers and charge hundreds of dollars to “fix” the consumers’ computers.
According to the FTC, after reaching the consumers on the phone, the telemarketers claimed they were affiliated with legitimate companies, including Dell, Microsoft, McAfee, and Norton, and told consumers they had detected malware that posed an imminent threat to their computers.
To demonstrate the need for immediate help, the scammers directed consumers to a utility area of their computer and falsely claimed that it demonstrated that the computer was infected.
The scammers then offered to rid the computer of malware for fees ranging from $49 to $450. When consumers agreed to pay the fee for fixing the “problems,” the telemarketers directed them to a website to enter a code or download a software program that allowed the scammers remote access to the consumers’ computers.
Once the telemarketers took control of the consumers’ computers, they “removed” the non-existent malware and downloaded otherwise free programs.
FTC papers filed with the court allege that the scammers hoped to avoid detection by consumers and law enforcers by using virtual offices that were actually just mail-forwarding facilities, and by using 80 different domain names and 130 different phone numbers.
With the active investigative support of Microsoft, the FTC was able to track the originating addresses and targeted 14 corporate defendants (Pecon Software Ltd., Finmaestros LLC, Zeal IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Virtual PC Solutions, Lakshmi Infosoul Services Pvt. Ltd., and PCCare247, Inc.) and 17 individual defendants in six legal filings.
At the request of the FTC, a US District Court Judge in the Southern District of New York has now ordered a halt to six alleged tech support scams pending further hearings, and has frozen their assets.
The FTC charged the defendants with violating the FTC Act (which bars unfair and deceptive commercial practices), as well as the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and with illegally calling numbers on the Do Not Call Registry. It asked the court to permanently halt the scams and order restitution for consumers.
Appended below is the detailed list of cases filed by the US Court:
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Pecon Software Ltd., also doing business as Pecon Services LLC, Pecon Services, Inc.; Pecon Infotech Ltd.; Pecon Software UK Ltd.; Mahesh Kumar Shah, also known as MK Shah; Prateek Shah; Sujoy Roy; Zulfiquar Ali; and Vikas Kumar Gupta, Defendants
(United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Case No. 12 CIV 7186
FTC File No. 1223118
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. PCCare247 Inc.; PC Care247 Solutions Private Limited; Connexxions Infotech Inc.; Connexxions IT Services Private Limited, also doing business as Connexxions InfoTech Services Pvt. Ltd.; Vikas Agrawal, also known as Vikas Agarwal; Navin Pasari; Anuj Agrawal; Sanjay Agarwalla; and Parmeshwar Agrawal, Defendants
(United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Case No. 12 CIV 7189
FTC File No. 1223243
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Zeal IT Solutions Pvt Ltd. and Kishore Ghosh, Defendants
(United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Case No. 12 CIV 7188
FTC File No. 1223244
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Lakshmi Infosoul Services Pvt Ltd., Somenath Das, and Piyush Kheria, Defendants
(United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Case No. 12 CIV 7191
FTC File No. 1223245
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Mikael Marczak, also known as Michael Marczak, also doing business as Virtual PC Solutions, First PC Solution, Direct PC Solution, Virtual IT Supports, and Global Innovative Services, and Wahid Ali, Defendants
(United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Case No. 12 CIV 7192
FTC File No. 1223246
Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Finmaestros, LLC, also doing business as technogennie, 24x7pchelp, 24x7pctech, and Transfront Solutions; New World Services, Inc., also doing business as Megabites Solutions; Megabites Solutions, LLC, also doing business as Mega Bites, Inc., and Mega Bits, Inc.; Greybytes Cybertech P. Ltd., also doing business as Bluesystemcare, BSC, and 24×7 PCHelp; Shine Solutions Private Limited; Sanjeev K. Sood, also known as Sanjiv K. Sood; and Animesh Bharti, Defendants
(United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
Case No. 12 CIV 7195
FTC File No. 1223247