back to article FTC fells four tech-support operations in scammer crackdown

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on scammers who fraudulently claim to represent the likes of Microsoft and Apple. The FTC said it has been granted a court order for an asset freeze and an injunction order on four companies who it said were tricking people into paying for unneeded, and in some cases, …

  1. Mark 85
    Mushroom

    And this action will stop because....?

    oh..I fogot. They'll obey the law and the ruling.... right. It might be harsh, but maybe standing a few of the corporate types of these "companies" against the wall with a firing squad might work.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: And this action will stop because....?

      FedEx to ISIS

  2. Dadmin
    Mushroom

    Eternal (system) salvation for helping fill our collection plate

    This is no different than any religion trying to bilk idiots, I mean believers, out of monies for an unknown solution to a problem they could solve on their own. In this case the FCC must be pretty pissed, because unlike the scam-failth-support, these scam-tech-support folks probably pay taxes on their brand of snake oil.

    1. Notas Badoff
      FAIL

      Re: Eternal (system) salvation for helping fill our collection plate

      And this ^ is no different than any other time someone hijacks a thread to bang their favorite drum.

      1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

        Re: Eternal (system) salvation for helping fill our collection plate

        Sure it is, the thread hijackers aren't trying to get at your money. Religions are. Well, okay...money...or maybe just to use you as a meat shield for a holy war. Thread hijackers just want to protest, or inflate their egos.

        I find the thread hijackers the lesser of two weevils.

  3. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

    The USA is treating scammers as criminals, whatever next?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Dick Cheney admits he made mistakes.

    2. jonathanb Silver badge

      By telling them not to do it again. Not much of a deterrent, they will set up another company and continue as before.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Doesn't it sound a little like OFCOM?

  4. x 7

    problem is the brains behind these scams will be in India or the Philippines....trying to keep them down is like trying to play a game of whack-a-mole

    As soon as you take out one "front" for the scam, another will reappear. Better to target the controlling individuals in their home countries

  5. Joe Drunk

    I don't understand the negative comments against the FTC's action against these lowlifes. Punch them in their sacks (money sacks that is). Freezing their assets sends a message that tech support scams are not profitable anymore. They'll have to find some other scam.

    1. x 7

      its not criticism of whats been done: everything helps, but unless you can get the brains behind it all, in their home countries, then the problem will just keep reappearing.

      1. Fatman
        Joke

        Getting behind it all

        <quote>... but unless you can get the brains behind it all ...</quote>

        How?? Would a .357 hollow point suffice??

        I could not help but notice the name of one of the corporate defendants - Spanning Source LLC.

        Did they deliberately make a typo in selecting that name (when it """should"""" have been SpaMMing Sopurce LLC)???

        1. kain preacher

          Re: Getting behind it all

          JSP does more damage. I'm all for putting thermite on their lap .

    2. a_yank_lurker

      The FTC action should allow the credit card processors to crack down on these "companies". It is almost certain that these "services" are paid via credit card. These scams are actually vulnerable to the credit card processing being suspended. Brian Krebs wrote about the shady online pharmacies and what that did them was credit card processors refusing to accept any charges.

      1. x 7

        " It is almost certain that these "services" are paid via credit card"

        Unfortunately not true.

        They usually insist on payment via Western Union, or a token-based system named UKash

        neither are traceable

  6. x 7

    interesting.......by backtracking a series of calls and the data given in them I was once able to pin down an Indian company - Arjun Inc, as the source of a lot of these calls. Just gone back and revisted their website - its down, and their Farcebook page hasn't been updated since the end of last year.

    So it looks like it is possible to shut these bastards down, I'd love to know who actually did it and how

  7. SysKoll

    Baiting them

    Last time I got such a call, I baited the "Microsoft tech support" until he dropped all pretenses.He then started an angry rant about how all Americans were stupid sheep led by the Jews. Truly a fine specimen of mankind. I just hope they operate out of Pakistan and not Pennsylvania.

    1. Mark 85
      Devil

      Re: Baiting them

      When they start the rant, quietly ask them if they realize that you're in a CIA field office and now that we have their co-ordinates to stay by the phone for just 5 more minutes.... and wait for the response. Usually a panic scream and hang-up.

      OTOH, if I'm busy, I just answer the phone "FBI Field Office"....

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No surprise

    Neither Microsucks or rotten Apple know how to fix their crap so why would they use pop-up ads for same?

    1. gnasher729 Silver badge

      Re: No surprise

      "Neither Microsucks or rotten Apple know how to fix their crap so why would they use pop-up ads for same?"

      Ok, fuckwit, I make a very good living developing software, and on two occasions one of the "geniuses" at the Apple Store in Lakeside, Thurrock fixed problems for me that had me and Google stumped. These guys have my deepest respect.

  9. JP 6

    You need to be scammed to report a scam

    Sadly, the online form at FTC used to report such scams cannot be filled out, UNLESS you can include the amount you paid, and how you paid it.

    Were it not for that, I could report a scammer every week by their 800 number. The website they use to generate the popup ad. changes often, plus you need to find the right page on the site.

    Typically, you cannot see then entire page address and the ability to copy it is disabled.

  10. Tom 13

    Ho-hum

    That's 4 down, 951,753 to go.

  11. Mark 85

    Hmm.... been 6 days since the ruling

    And on 5 of those days, I've had calls from various people with thick accents working for Microsoft Support. Yep... it's working.

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