Three Persons Indicted for Running Scareware Scam

A federal jury in Chicago (USA) has pronounced punishment to three men for their alleged involvement in the bogus software scam, said the US officials. The operation instigated internet users in over 60 countries to purchase more than 1 Million fake software products that cost victims $100 Million, said the US Justice Department.

The three men were alleged to have been involved in placing fake advertisements on a number of legitimate companies' websites. These advertisements made the Internet users to believe that their systems had been infested with malware or other critical problems. But the "scareware" applications could not redeem the system from non-existent problems.

Computer users were encourage to use their credit cards for buying Innovative Marketing software with names like "ErrorSafe" and "DriveCleaner" for the prices between $30 and $70. The money was deposited in different accounts across the globe.

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent, FBI Chicago office, said that the accused allegedly befooled innocent computer users. They exploited the fear of computer users for personal gains, as reported by nzherald on May 28, 2010.

According to the reports, two of the three accused, Shailesh Kumar Jain and Bjorn Sundin, ran an antivirus company known as Innovative Marketing that engaged in the sales of products like
WinFixer, antivirus 2008, VirusRemover 2008 and malware Alarm. The third man, named James Reno, managed Byte Hosting Internet Services which operated call center of Innovative Marketing.

The 40 years old Jain is a US citizen, but seems to be living in Ukraine, according to the Justice Department, Sundin, aged 31, is a Swedish citizen and seems to be living in the country.

The judge found Sundin and Jain guilty for 24 counts of wire fraud, while Reno was found guilty for 12 counts of wire fraud. Each accused was charged with one count of conspiracy to execute computer fraud.

Each wire fraud count has a provision of 20 years imprisonment and $250,000 fine, with restitution and fines as per the money lost by victims.

The indictment also seizure of around $100 Million and all the money in the accounts at Swedbank situated in Kiev, Ukraine.

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» SPAMfighter News - 6/7/2010