back to article FTC goes undercover to probe suspected antivirus scam, scores $26M settlement

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 US watchdog's complaint and settlement proposal [both PDFs], two arms of the …

  1. Phil Koenig Bronze badge

    Another evil doer escapes with paltry fine and "admits no wrongdoing".

    I have given much respect in general to President Biden's picks to head citizen-protection agencies after decades of so-called "regulators" who were deep under the covers with the exploitative entities they were supposedly tasked to regulate.

    But we are back to the same-old/same-old again with these relatively small fines that carry no actual criminal penalties.

    Perhaps Lina Khan's experiences with Trump-appointed federal judges shooting down her attempts to actually be a citizen advocate is souring the FTC on even attempting to get a pro-citizen ruling through the federal court system.

    But if that's the case that's rather depressing as well.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Another evil doer escapes with paltry fine and "admits no wrongdoing".

      Enforcing laws across national borders like this, especially when they're not nearby nations, is difficult at best. Getting them to cease operations in the US is frequently the easiest option, so that's what happens. Annoying that they "admit no wrongdoing", but I can definitely understand our FTC deciding it wasn't worth the even longer-term effort of fighting for extradition, trial, etc.

      1. Gene Cash Silver badge

        Re: Another evil doer escapes with paltry fine and "admits no wrongdoing".

        > but I can definitely understand our FTC deciding it wasn't worth the even longer-term effort of fighting for extradition, trial, etc

        I can't. I'm paying taxes for them to enforce the laws. And they really aren't. No one's in jail for this and no one has been deterred from breaking the law in the future.

        1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

          Re: Another evil doer escapes with paltry fine and "admits no wrongdoing".

          And no one would be in jail for this, regardless of what the FTC did. You pay taxes to support feasible enforcement, not magic.

  2. Not Yb Bronze badge

    It was probably not these guys, but I did manage to help out a friend who had been attacked by a "technical support" scam. They had used "syskey" to lock it with a password the owner was not told. Luckily he stopped them before going any further once they said something about $x00 to "repair" it. Fairly simple fix for someone with a bootable USB "fix Windows" flash drive, but beyond the average user.

    Checking with MS recently, "syskey" has been removed from more current versions of the OS, for many reasons including this kind of basic ransom-by-locking attack.

  3. Not Yb Bronze badge

    Curious about how trustworthy AppEsteem might be?

    They still list Restoro and Reimage as being trustworthy after marking them deceptive for a while. "Company fixed"... suuuure.

    Then again it seems the only testing they actually do is "UI-based", which wouldn't necessarily check for "how does the company actually use this app."

  4. IGotOut Silver badge

    Hold On One Second

    Ignore the main story one second.

    "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 payment processing companies KNEW the scammers was committing fraud, but yet still happily took money from victims and only gave it back when disputed.

    I think we know whom the really crooks are.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Hold On One Second

      Yup. That was the one that stuck out for me. The scam could have been nipped in the bud well before they had $26m in hand to make a settlement.

  5. galenpcc

    A recent article in Business Insider — https://www.businessinsider.com/new-us-partner-cyprus-increased-western-special-operations-activity-mediterranean-2024-3 — reports on joint exercises between the US Navy’s SEALS and their Cypriot counterparts. How about these forces visit the businesses noted in this The Register article and invite their owners to accompany them for a drop-in visit to the Houthis in Yemen?

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