Canada CRTC Fines India Telemarketers, Puts Foreign Operators 'on Notice'

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October 3, 2012

CRTC fines India telemarketers, puts foreign operators 'on notice'

By STEVE LADURANTAYE - THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Telemarkets fined for calling Canadians on do-not-call list to offer virus protection

Telemarketers from India who called Canadians and offered them virus protection for their computers have been fined by the country's telecommunications regulator as part of an international effort to put an end to a scam that has seen many people hand over control of their computers.

Pecon Software Ltd. and Avaneesh Software were fined a combined $507,000 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. They weren't fined for tricking Canadians into giving them access to their hard drives or selling unnecessary software, but for calling people whose names were on the National Do Not Call List.

"The caller would typically warn consumers that their home computer was infected with a virus and encouraged them to purchase online technical support or anti-virus software," the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission stated. "In certain cases, the callers would request remote access to the computer."

The CRTC's notice said "foreign-based telemarketers have been put on notice" and said the regulator worked with both the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Australian Communications and Media Authority to target the companies.

The FTC went further than the CRTC, saying the companies (and several others) "con consumers into believing that their computers are riddled with viruses, spyware and other malware, and then charge hundreds of dollars to remotely access and fix the consumers' computers."

The FTC said after getting consumers on the phone, the telemarketers would claim they were affiliated with companies such as Dell, Microsoft or McAfee and had found malicious software on their computers. They would then offer to fix the problem for up to $450, and would then have consumers download a program that gave the telemarketers access to their computers.

"FTC papers filed with the court alleged that the scammers hoped to avoid detection by consumers and law enforcers by using virtual offices that were actually just mail-forwarding facilities, and by using 80 different domain names and 130 different phone numbers," the FTC stated.

The charges were filed in New York, against 14 corporate defendants and 17 individuals.

source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...s-foreign-operators-on-notice/article4585310/

 

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US crackdown on online fraud schemes from India

PTI | Oct 4, 2012, 05.32PM IST

WASHINGTON: Several online fraud schemes, mainly operating from India, that duped people in countries like the US, UK and Canada into paying to clean their computers of bogus virus infections, have been shut down by US authorities in a crackdown on so-called tech support scams.

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a US District Court Judge ordered a halt to six alleged tech support scams pending further hearings, and has frozen their assets.

The FTC charged that the operations - mostly based in India - target English-speaking consumers in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and Britain.

According to the FTC, five of the six used telemarketing boiler rooms to call consumers. The sixth lured consumers by placing ads with Google which appeared when consumers searched for their computer company's tech support telephone number.

The FTC cases targeted 14 corporate defendants and 17 individual defendants in 6 legal filings, Pecon Software Ltd, Finmaestros LLC, Zeal IT Solutions Pvt Ltd, Virtual PC Solutions, Lakshmi Infosoul Services Pvt Ltd, and PCCare247, Inc, and individual defendants in each of the cases; majority of whom are Indians and based in India.

"In these outrageous and disturbing cons you get a call from someone pretending to be from a major computer company who dupes you into thinking you have a virus on your computer.

"At one level, it's like a bad Bollywood movie, but at another level it's a ripoff of consumers," the FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, said during a conference call.

According to the FTC, after getting the consumers on the phone, the telemarketers allegedly claimed they were affiliated with legitimate companies, including Dell, Microsoft, McAfee, and Norton, and told consumers they had detected malware that posed an imminent threat to their computers.

To demonstrate the need for immediate help, the scammers directed consumers to a utility area of their computer and falsely claimed that it demonstrated that the computer was infected.

The scammers then offered to rid the computer of malware for fees ranging from USD 49 to USD 450, FTC said.

When consumers agreed to pay the fee for fixing the "problems," the telemarketers directed them to a website to enter a code or download a software programme that allowed the scammers remote access to the consumers' computers.

Once the telemarketers took control of the consumers' computers, they "removed" the non-existent malware and downloaded otherwise free programmes, it said.

FTC papers filed with the court alleged that the scammers hoped to avoid detection by consumers and law enforcers by using virtual offices that were actually just mail-forwarding facilities, and by using 80 different domain names and 130 different phone numbers.

One group of individuals, according to the FTC, are based in West Bengal; the other group of Indians charged operate from Rajasthan.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...d-schemes-from-India/articleshow/16669659.cms