Microsoft Files Lawsuit Against Scareware Scammers
- added October 01, 2008
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Microsoft and Washington State’s Attorney General filed lawsuits in an attempt to protect frightened customers from buying useless software from scam artists.
Such scam artists use what is called "Scareware" to trick computer users into clicking on pop-up alerts that claim their device is "damaged and corrupted".
They are then persuaded to buy software that corrects the non-existent issue by offering fake security fixes.
Attorney General Rob McKenna called it a blatant rip-off of consumers.
Users are "duped into downloading a fake scan (of the computer) and then duped into paying for software they don't need".
The attorney general filed the lawsuit against a Texas firm called Branch Software and Alpha Red and its owner James Reed McCreary IV. The suit alleged that Mr McCreary's company "sent incessant pop-ups resembling system warnings to consumers' personal computers.
"The messages read "CRITICAL ERROR MESSAGE! - REGISTRY DAMAGED AND CORRUPTED."
According to the complaint, the ads "instructed users to visit a web site to download Registry Cleaner XP" at a cost of $39.95 (£21.70).
"We won't tolerate the use of alarmist warnings or deceptive 'free scans' to trick consumers into buying software to fix a problem that doesn't even exist," McKenna said.
"We've repeatedly proven that Internet companies that prey on consumers' anxieties are within our reach."
Eric Sites, the chief technology officer with security firm Sunbelt Software, which tracks spyware and malware threats, says the problem is a growing one.
"In the last six months we have seen an enormous uptick in the number of people getting infected by these scareware or spyware agents.
"They are becoming a lot more prevalent and the 'scare and scam' is all about getting money out of the user," he said.
The scheme took advantage of a Windows operating system feature designed to let computer network administrators send notices to people using the machines.
Microsoft referred the case to the attorney general's high tech unit and helped put the case together.
"Cybercrime continues to evolve, but with public/private collaboration such as this, we can work to champion tougher laws, greater public awareness and, ultimately, stronger protections for online consumers," said Richard Boscovich, senior attorney for Microsoft's Internet safety enforcement team.
The software giant has since filed five new lawsuits and amended two previous complaints all relating to spyware attempts.
Scan & Repair, Antivirus 2009, MalwareCore, WinDefender, XPDefender and WinSpywareProtect were the programs included in the suit.
The defendants are mostly listed as "John Doe" because investigators do not yet know the identities of the people involved.
Such scam artists use what is called "Scareware" to trick computer users into clicking on pop-up alerts that claim their device is "damaged and corrupted".
They are then persuaded to buy software that corrects the non-existent issue by offering fake security fixes.
Attorney General Rob McKenna called it a blatant rip-off of consumers.
Users are "duped into downloading a fake scan (of the computer) and then duped into paying for software they don't need".
The attorney general filed the lawsuit against a Texas firm called Branch Software and Alpha Red and its owner James Reed McCreary IV. The suit alleged that Mr McCreary's company "sent incessant pop-ups resembling system warnings to consumers' personal computers.
"The messages read "CRITICAL ERROR MESSAGE! - REGISTRY DAMAGED AND CORRUPTED."
According to the complaint, the ads "instructed users to visit a web site to download Registry Cleaner XP" at a cost of $39.95 (£21.70).
"We won't tolerate the use of alarmist warnings or deceptive 'free scans' to trick consumers into buying software to fix a problem that doesn't even exist," McKenna said.
"We've repeatedly proven that Internet companies that prey on consumers' anxieties are within our reach."
Eric Sites, the chief technology officer with security firm Sunbelt Software, which tracks spyware and malware threats, says the problem is a growing one.
"In the last six months we have seen an enormous uptick in the number of people getting infected by these scareware or spyware agents.
"They are becoming a lot more prevalent and the 'scare and scam' is all about getting money out of the user," he said.
The scheme took advantage of a Windows operating system feature designed to let computer network administrators send notices to people using the machines.
Microsoft referred the case to the attorney general's high tech unit and helped put the case together.
"Cybercrime continues to evolve, but with public/private collaboration such as this, we can work to champion tougher laws, greater public awareness and, ultimately, stronger protections for online consumers," said Richard Boscovich, senior attorney for Microsoft's Internet safety enforcement team.
The software giant has since filed five new lawsuits and amended two previous complaints all relating to spyware attempts.
Scan & Repair, Antivirus 2009, MalwareCore, WinDefender, XPDefender and WinSpywareProtect were the programs included in the suit.
The defendants are mostly listed as "John Doe" because investigators do not yet know the identities of the people involved.
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