Your Computer Is Infected, And I'm Here To Help...Or Maybe Not

By Alan Marx, AARP Tennessee Consumer Watchdog

Have you ever received a pop-up message on your computer or a telephone call warning that your computer is infected? If not, consider your-self lucky. These messages are common. They imply that they are from a legitimate high tech company, such as Microsoft, and they warn you of an imminent disaster to your computer. You are told to take immediate action to address the problem, specifically by calling a toll-free telephone number.

Christopher Ames

How often does this occur? In 2015 the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) received nearly 40,000 complaints about this type of technical support scam. In the first four months of 2016 the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 3,600 complaints. Because not everyone who is targeted files a complaint, one can safely assume that the actual number of people who encountered the scam was much larger than the number of complaints.

Dealing with technical support scams is an ongoing focus for investigations and actions at the FTC. The agency recently obtained settlements from a group of St. Louis and India based defendants who used this type of deceptive internet pop-up advertising to trick consumers into buying unnecessary technical support services.

In a complaint filed in October 2016, the FTC alleged that the five companies and three individuals who owned, directed, and managed an enterprise worked with marketers who placed pop-up ads on consumers’ computers, falsely claiming that the computers were infected. From November 2014 through June 2016 the advertisers were paid more than $!.2 million on a “pay per call” basis. The pop-up ads were designed to appear suddenly on computers, leading consumers to believe that their computers had security vulnerabilities or other technical problems. The ads were intended to lead consumers to believe that they were actually messages from trusted technology sources, such as Microsoft, Apple, Norton or Verizon. The pop-up ads contained a “persistent” or “incessant” alarm or a loud sound with a voice recording. When this occurred, consumers often could not delete the alarm and were unable to use their computers, even after restarting them. The ads urged consumers to immediately call a toll-free number for help. The goal was to cause panic, and it worked. Thousands of consumers called the toll-free number.

The calls connected consumers to telemarketers in India who falsely claimed to be affiliated with or certified by well-known technology companies. They insisted that they needed direct access to the consumers’ computers to perform diagnostic tests. Once access was obtained, the telemarketers “invariably” told consumers their computers had specific problems and convinced them to pay hundreds of dollars.

In reality, neither the pop-ups nor the telemarketers performed any diagnostic tests. The FTC presented a declaration from a Microsoft representative stating that its Windows computer operating systems do not include the pop-up feature that the telemarketers claimed was a notification of suspected performance or security problems. The FTC also used undercover investigators with computers checked by experts to confirm that the claims of the telemarketers were false. Similarly, claims made by the telemarketers of their affiliation with or certification by Microsoft, Apple, Symantec or Verizon were false.

The defendants offered consumers a price of $150 for computer service on a one-time basis or from $250 to 500 or even more for a year-long contract. When one consumer balked, the telemarketer reinstated the pop-up message on her computer. To get the pop-up removed, the consumer eventually agreed to pay. The defendants took in more than $5,000,000 through this scheme.

As part of the settlements, the defendants were banned from offering or promoting technical support and from misrepresenting their products or services. In addition, they agreed to turn over more than $1 million in assets, which will be used by the FTC for restitution to victims.

​This settlement is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to pursue technical support scams. The Commission has named its initiative “Operation Tech Trap”, a major crackdown on computer support companies and individuals who have used tactics similar to the ones used by the defendants in this case.

Conclusions
​Undoubtedly there are legitimate on-line computer service companies, but the trick is to find them. It is difficult to do research about companies that offer software support on-line. Before trusting your computer and all your personal data and files to a remote troubleshooter, check very carefully for references and recommendations from trusted sources.

You may find that it is much easier to check on a brick and mortar computer store in your home town. You also might try to find a local reputable computer technician by asking the person responsible for maintaining the computer at your work or by asking your friends.

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