Two companies that made a total of $120 million off their bogus businesses have been shut down by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The companies scammed users into hiring them to erase bad software from their computers that was never there. Engadget writes:
You've heard it happen one time or another: a senior who's not very tech-savvy clicked a dubious link online and paid a shady internet company a hefty sum to remove a virus that was never there. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, and apparently, still one of the most effective: the Federal Trade Commission has just shut down two massive Florida-based telemarketing operations that reportedly scammed victims (mostly seniors) out of $120 million in total, duping them into buying fake anti-virus software and fake tech support. Both have been active since at least 2012, so they might sound familiar. The first one sold software called PC Cleaner, while the other did business under several names, including Boost Software Inc., OMG Tech Help and, hilariously enough, OMG Total Protection.
PC Magazine elaborates:
The advice comes amidst a crackdown on phony tech support companies that allegedly trick users into paying for tech support services they didn't actually need, and for software that was otherwise available for free. At the FTC's request, federal judges have shut down New York-based Pairsys, Florida-based Inbound Call Experts, and Florida-based Vast Tech Support pending trial, the consumer protection agency announced Wednesday.
According to the FTC, Pairsys has scammed nearly $2.5 million from users and Inbound Call Experts and Vast Tech Support together conned tens of thousands of consumers out of more than $120 million since 2012.
The scammers behind Pairsys allegedly cold-called consumers pretending to be representatives from Microsoft and Facebook, and purchased online ads that lead users to believe they were calling from legit tech support companies. Once they had access to a consumer's computer, they would say they discovered viruses and malware, which in reality did not exist, and in some cases implied that the computer was so badly compromised that it needed to be repaired immediately.
They "targeted seniors and other vulnerable populations, preying on their lack of computer knowledge to sell 'security' software and programs that had no value at all," Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's consumer protection bureau, said in a statement.
