At the request of The Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has temporarily shut down two scam telemarketing operations that conned tens of thousands out of over $120 million.
The two operations scammed users by advertising free computer optimization software, and then when the free software was run, it would identify problems with the computer that did not exist. Users were then told they would have to pay for the full version of the software in order to fix the errors that it had identified.
After purchasing the software, users were given a number to call to activate the software.
Upon calling the number, users were greeted by telemarketers, who requested remote access to their computer.
They would then show them windows that made it appear as if there were problems with their computers, and tried to convince them to purchase security software and tech support services costing as much as $500.
One of the sites providing the initial free trial software remains fully operational (Boost Software Inc.) while the other (OMGTechHelp) has an FTC notice on the front-page and no software is available to download.
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