FTC Puts Two Scammers Out Of Business

The Federal Trade Commission settled charges against two operators of copycat Web sites involved in "phishing" expeditions for consumers' confidential financial information.

The FTC charged Zachary Keith Hill and an unnamed minor with violating the FTC rule against unfair and deceptive practices and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which bars using false or fictitious statements to obtain consumers’ financial information. The Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia’s Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Squad teamed up with the FTC to bring the two to justice.

The defendants agreed to settle two separate FTC charges, with Hill also facing a possible 46-month jail term for related criminal charges filed by the U.S. Attorney General.

Read more at Internet News.