A pair of tech support businesses accused of swindling marks out of their hard-earned cash have agreed to cough up a $26 million settlement following an undercover probe by the FTC. Restoro and Reimage - both headquartered in Cyprus and, based on the the US watchdog's complaint and settlement proposal [both PDFs], two arms of the same operation - have been running a pretty typical Windows antivirus scam since at least 2018, or so the regulator alleged.
Specifically, it's claimed the outfits would wait for people to install the pair's supposedly anti-malware tools and then strong-arm those folks into paying hundreds of dollars each for cleanup services and other stuff that weren't actually needed.
In this particular case, the FTC did more than just collect records, interview victims, and file charges: The watchdog got right into the midst of the suspected fraud by subjecting its own agents to the companies.
Purchases of Restoro software were made in May and June 2022, while Reimage was bought in July and August of the same year.
Upon calling they were told the machine had too many problems for Restoro or Reimage's software to fix, and were urged to buy additional repair services for as much as $500. What's more, it's claimed, after convincing users to install remote access software on their PCs, the Restoro and Reimage telemarketers looked through the Windows Event Viewer for errors or warnings - plenty of which can be found on any machine - and pointed those out as dire issues that needed urgent fixing.
Not only did the FTC catch Restoro and Reimage in the act, but the firms had long been on the radar of credit card networks and payment processors for fraud as well, it is claimed.
Multiple billing aggregators and payment processes - including Visa - raised questions about excess chargebacks and fraudulent behavior over the years as well, we're told.
The FTC charged Restoro and Reimage with violations of the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule.
George Avraamides, director of Restoro and Reimage, signed off on the settlement agreement, handing $26 million to the FTC to provide redress to any deceived netizens though without admitting fault.
The FAQ should look like this and state that new downloads and installation of the pair's software will be disabled.
We reached out to the consumer watchdog to get clarification on the timeline of its dealings with Restoro and Reimage, and were directed to the companies themselves.
This Cyber News was published on go.theregister.com. Publication date: Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:43:07 +0000