Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC, Florida file charges against tech support operators, (Jul 8, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:9138242 Canada Corporation | BigDog Solutions, LLC | BlackOpteck CE Inc. | CJM Consulting, LLC | Digital Growth Properties, LLC | Inbound Call Specialist LLC | Microsoft | PC Help Desk US LLC
By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.
Defendants who ran an international tech support operation that allegedly misrepresented to consumers that their computers had been compromised by malware and hackers, and that the operation was associated with Microsoft and Apple to fix consumers’ computers, were charged by the FTC and the State of Florida with violating the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the FTC announced today.
The FTC and the State of Florida are seeking to permanently stop the defendants’ alleged illegal practices and obtain refunds for the victimized businesses. The defendants include BigDog Solutions, LLC and PC Help Desk US LLC (both d/b/a Help Desk National and Help Desk Global), Inbound Call Specialist LLC, BlackOpteck CE Inc., 9138242 Canada Corporation, Digital Growth Properties, LLC, Christopher J. Costanza (d/b/a CJM Consulting, LLC), Suzanne W. Harris, Muzaffar Abbas, Gary Oberman, Donald Dolphin, and Justin Powers.
According to the complaint, the defendants:
caused consumer’s computers to display advertisements, designed to resemble security alerts from Microsoft or Apple, that warned that their computers could be infected with malware and urged them to call a toll-free number;
routed consumer calls to their call center in Boynton Beach, Florida, where telemarketers purportedly ran "diagnostics" that inevitably discovered grave problems that needed to be fixed immediately by their "certified technicians" at a cost of $200-$300; and
frequently told consumers that they need to replace their existing antivirus software at a cost of $200-$500, even though the replacement software was available commercially at a fraction of that cost or was free.
The complaint was filed in the federal district court in Chicago. A temporary restraining order was issued by the court on June 28, 2016.
Companies: BigDog Solutions, LLC; PC Help Desk US LLC; Inbound Call Specialist LLC; BlackOpteck CE Inc.; 9138242 Canada Corporation; Digital Growth Properties, LLC; CJM Consulting, LLC
News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews