[LINK] Scareware seller fined $163milUSD

[Jan Whitaker]

[We have this going on here -- a friend got stung, I get the calls, 
it's epidemic in Australia. I wonder if the ACCC or whatever 
regulator there is here will take them on. There appears to be some 
money in it.......]

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/us-orders-163-million-fine-for-scareware-20121003-26yah.html

A US federal court has ordered a $US163 million ($159 million) fine 
against the operators of a "scareware" scheme which tricked computer 
users into thinking they were infected, and then sold them a "fix", 
officials said on Tuesday.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said the court imposed the fine 
on Kristy Ross and two companies, Innovative Marketing and 
ByteHosting Internet Services, and permanently barred them from 
selling computer security software.

The FTC said its probe dated back to 2008 when it charged Ross and 
six other defendants with scamming more than 1 million consumers into 
buying software to remove malware supposedly detected by computer scans.

The FTC charged that the operation used elaborate and technologically 
sophisticated internet ads which displayed to consumers a "system 
scan" that detected a host of malicious software.

Consumers who fell for the scheme would pay $US40 to $US60 to clean 
off the malware.

Under a 2011 settlement, two other defendants were ordered to give up 
$US8.2 million in ill-gotten gains. Two others previously settled the 
charges and the FTC obtained default judgments against three other defendants