The court, acting at the behest of the Federal Trade Commission, halted a massive plan by the companies to dupe Internet advertising networks into running ads for their products and services, which purported to promote legitimate security companies, but when clicked, led only to the defendants' websites.
Once on the defendants' sites, users would receive a fake "scan" of their computers that would return frightening results listing all manner of viruses, illegal pornography or dangerous software. The websites would then try to sell the visiting users on security software like WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe and XP Antivirus.
Along with the two cpmpanies, the FTC complaint implicates individuals Daniel Sundin, Sam Jain, Marc D’Souza, Kristy Ross, and James Reno. Maurice D’Souza also was named in the complaint, though only as a "relief" defendant who got money from the scheme, though he didn't directly participate in it.
Along with the stoppage, the court has frozen the assets of everyone involved — and those assets are considerable. According to the FTC, more than 1 million consumers bought software because of the scheme at about $39.95 per unit.
The adult industry saw its own alleged scareware scheme recently. In September, Washington state Atorney General Robert McKenna sued James Reed McCreary IV, CEO of the web hosting company Alpha Red, for being involved in such a scheme. Alpha Red has since filed for bankruptcy.
For more information on how to avoid scareware schemes, visit the FTC website.
