FTC Files First Federal Lawsuit Against Spyware
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Federal authorities have asked a US District Court judge to shut down an operation that they said installed intrusive spyware on people&#39;s computers and then sold the victims anti-spyware software
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Scareware tactics backfire on Secure Computer A firm accused of marketing bogus anti-spyware software has paid $1m to settle a lawsuit brought by the US State of Washington.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Washington's attorney general has settled the first case prosecuted under the state's 2005 Computer Spyware Act. The settlement announced Monday is with antispyware vendor Secure Computer. The White Plains, New York, software company wasÂ accused of marketing its product via deceptive spam and pop-up ads, which offered free spyware scans that always detected a problem with the computer that was scanned. The company and its president, Paul Burke, will pay $725,000 in legal fees and $200,000 in penalties, and will reimburse Washington state customers $75,000, said Paula Selis, senior council with the attorney general's office. "Given the scope of the defendants' practices and the amount of consumer harm out there, we feel this is a very fair settlement." More than 1,100 state residents purchased the company's Spyware Cleaner software since it went on the market in 2004, Selis said. Those customers will now be e-mailed by Secure Computer and offered a refund for the $49.95 product, under terms of the settlement. Secure Computer, which admits no wrongdoing in the matter, is also prohibited fromÂ using deceptive marketing techniquesÂ to promote its software, and the company must now review the advertising of its marketing affiliates to make sure they comply with the settlement. That seems like an unlikely possibility, however, because Spyware Cleaner was pulled from the market shortly after the lawsuits were filed in late January, and Secure ComputerÂ is now out of business,Â according to the company's Web site. Representatives from Secure Computer could not be reached for comment. Burke, who was Secure Computer's president, has formed a new company called Safe App Software, which is now selling a registry cleaner product, Selis said. That product is not being sold in the U.S. she added. Secure Computer and four of its business partners were sued by Microsoft and the Washington attorney general in January, but charges against three of the men have already been settled. A fourth man, Manoj Kumar of Maharashtra, India, could not be located, the attorney general's office said. Burke and Secure Computer settled the Microsoft lawsuit about two months ago, said Spencer Freeman, an attorney with Freeman Law Firm Inc. who represented the defendants in the case. Freeman declined to comment on Monday's settlement.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed charges against a payment processing company, accusing it of attempting to debit consumers&#39; bank accounts for up to $200 million on behalf of dishonest merchants.Those consumers either never received the goods or received worthless items, said the FTC, which filed the complaint with seven other U.S. states. The payment company allegedly violated both federal and state consumer fraud laws, telemarketing rules, and FTC regulations regarding the unfair processing of payments.The payment processing company went by several names, which are listed in a FTC news release. The FTC alleges the company processed payments for fraudulent telemarketers and Internet-based merchants that used deceptive sales scripts and methods.About $69 million of the $200 million in transactions were either rejected by consumers or returned because of lack of proper payment authorization, the FTC said.The FTC wants to refund consumers and force the company to forfeit money it still holds from the fraud in addition to other civil penalties. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.The states that have joined the suit are Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, and Vermont.
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Over the past few years, computer crimes and annoyances have become an increasingly important part of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's work. In the past year, the FTC has announced settlements with spammers, adware distributors, and even Sony BMG Music Entertainment, over its distribution of rootkit software.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking for victims of a data breach at ChoicePoint announced in early 2005. Victims with out-of-pocket expenses due to the breach have until Aug. 18 to file claims and be eligible for payments from a $5 million fund that ChoicePoint agreed to pay in its January 2006 settlement with the FTC. The FTC has now mailed reimbursement claim forms to 2,400 consumers who may have been victims of identity theft due to the breach, the agency said in a speech. The FTC has mailed claim forms to 1,000 consumers since December 2006, it said. In addition, the FTC has created a Web site where consumers who do not receive a claim letter can download a claim form and get more information about the claims process. Data broker ChoicePoint announced in early 2005 that identity thieves had set up fake businesses as a way to buy personal information from the company. The breach, affecting about 163,000 U.S. residents, set off a debate in the U.S. Congress about data breach protections, but Congress has yet to pass a data breach notification bill. In its January 2006 settlement with the FTC, ChoicePoint agreed to pay a $10 million fine in addition to the $5 million victims fund. The company also agreed to third-party security audits every other year until 2026. ChoicePoint also agreed in May to pay a $500,000 fine and change the way it screens new customers in a settlement with 43 states and the District of Columbia. Claim forms must be postmarked by Aug. 18. The amount applicants receive will depend on a number of factors, including the total number and size of claims that the agency receives, the FTC said.
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The FTC said it believes the companies induced computer users to buy its spyware-eradication software, sold for US$30 and bearing names such as Spy Wiper and Spy Deleter, after first infecting
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Raising the fine line US consumer watchdog the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is calling for a bigger stick with which to punish spyware purveyors.â¦
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With Congress considering new legislation to increase penalties against spyware companies that install programs on people&#39;s computers without their knowledge, the Federal Trade Commission last week filed a complaint against Sanford Wallace, the New
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A prominent Internet safety organization and leading computer-maker Dell Inc. launched a campaign Friday to help consumers fend off "spyware," software that can cause sluggish computer performance or popup ads and secretly monitor the activities of Internet users.
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Secure Computer agrees to pay $1 million to settle charges that it violated Washington state's spyware law.
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The US government has sued a New Hampshire man in its first attempt to crack down on Internet &quot;spyware&quot; that seizes control of a user&#39;s computer without permission.
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The US Federal Trade Commission last week sued an outfit that it says is using spyware to bombard computer users with pop-up ads in order to promote anti-spyware products called Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun mailing claim forms to more than 1,400 identity theft victims who spent money to clear up identity-theft problems due to a security breach at data broker ChoicePoint announced in early 2005. The FTC began mailing claim forms to victims, identified with the help of law enforcement agencies, on Wednesday. The FTC has also created a Web site where consumers who do not receive a claims form can download one and obtain information about the claims process. In January, the FTC and ChoicePoint reached a settlementÂ requiring the company to payÂ $5 millionÂ to be used to reimburse consumers for expenses caused by the data breach. ChoicePoint also agreed to pay a $10 million fine. In February 2005, ChoicePoint announced that scammers had set up bogus businesses and contracted with the company to gainÂ access to the personal informationÂ of 145,000 U.S. residents. The company, which found out about the breach in September 2004, later said the number of people whose information was lost in the breach was 163,000. Consumers who receive a letter and have out-of-pocket expenses due to identity theft caused by the ChoicePoint security breach should submit claims promptly; the FTC needs claims to be postmarked by Feb. 4, 2007 for them to be considered. Consumers who do not receive a letter, but who believe that they have identity theft-related expenses due to this incident, may submit a claim by completing the form available on the FTCâs Web site or by calling 1-888-884-8772. The amount applicants receive will depend on a number of factors, including the total number and amount of claims that the agency receives, the FTC said. ChoicePoint issued a short notice about the FTC reimbursement program. "Even though ChoicePoint agreed to create a $5 million fund to assist potentially affected consumers, ChoicePoint has no role in deciding who will receive the money or the criteria used by the FTC to distribute the money," the company said in a statement.
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The FTC has taken legal action in an effort to shut down Seismic Entertainment Productions and SmartBot.Net -- two companies that have become notorious as distributors of spyware.
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FTC says pretexting violates federal law, targets companies involved in HP scandal.
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Sanford 'Spamford' Wallace has agreed to stop his use of spyware programs while he fights a lawsuit from the US Federal Trade Commission.