United States - Operator of Deceptive Scareware Scheme Will Pay More than $8 Million to Settle FTC Charges

An operator of an online "scareware" scheme will pay more than $8 million in redress to settle FTC charges that he used fake virus scans to trick computer users into buying worthless software. According to the FTC's complaint, the defendant placed ads on popular websites offering free virus scans to visitors. The bogus scans claimed to detect viruses, spyware, or illegal pornography and urged consumers to buy the defendant's software to remove it. The FTC alleged that the defendants conned more than one million people into paying $40-60 each for products such as Winfixer, Drive Cleaner and Antivirus XP tp "fix" a non-existent problem. The settlement includes funds repatriated to the United States by a settling Canadian defendant.