In what might be described as an apparent slap on the wrist, the Federal Trade Commission has decided to settle with two defendants in a scareware scam for a mere $116,687, rather than continue to go after them for the full $1.9 million levied against the defendants in an earlier judgement. The reason? The defendants are unable to pay the full amount.
James Reno and ByteHosting Internet Service, LLC, were found to be part of a substantial deceptive online advertising scheme that tricked over a million computer users into buying bogus computer security product based on fake scans that claimed to detect viruses and other malware on consumers’ computers. The software would then ask for money to clean up the systems.
