FTC Giving out $20 Rebate Checks for Its Scam Victims
You may have heard of FTC antivirus scam or may be a victim itself. But it all happened about three years ago when the company Innovative Marketing found itself in hot water with the FTC for pushing fake antivirus software. Their bogus titles included some of the biggest in fake AV history, like WinAntivirus and XP Antivirus — as well as DriveCleaner, ErrorFixer, and many other unscrupulous apps. The FTC even put together a consumer alert page designed to help folks learn to identify scareware distributed by lowlifes like Innovative and keep themselves from become infected and victimized financially. In December of 2008, a U.S. District Court judge ordered Innovative Marketing and their partner ByteHosting Internet Services to halt operations. By then, more than a million victims had been fleeced.
Now, there are many instances like this that in the direct marketing field one can encounter. And, the e-mail service which most of the companies use to target their consumers can otherwise be a target of the scammers who can make you the main culprit behind it. So, every direct marketing company has to take enough caution that they are affected in any way. Many direct marketing companies like TC World Ltd. have taken remedies to not get affected in any way by these kind of scammers.
The FTC has secured an $8.3 million settlement payment from two of the defendants named in the Innovative/ByteHosting case. In a somewhat unexpected move, the FTC is turning around and giving that money back to victims. The average “refund” will be about $20, and the precise amount will be scaled according to the amount of money an individual originally lost. They won’t receive the full amount that they were conned out of, and it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the $150 million the FBI claimed fake AV victims had lost way back in 2009.
Now, there are many instances like this that in the direct marketing field one can encounter. And, the e-mail service which most of the companies use to target their consumers can otherwise be a target of the scammers who can make you the main culprit behind it. So, every direct marketing company has to take enough caution that they are affected in any way. Many direct marketing companies like TC World Ltd. have taken remedies to not get affected in any way by these kind of scammers.
The FTC has secured an $8.3 million settlement payment from two of the defendants named in the Innovative/ByteHosting case. In a somewhat unexpected move, the FTC is turning around and giving that money back to victims. The average “refund” will be about $20, and the precise amount will be scaled according to the amount of money an individual originally lost. They won’t receive the full amount that they were conned out of, and it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the $150 million the FBI claimed fake AV victims had lost way back in 2009.