The US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that two antivirus software packages, Restoro and Reimage, are counterfeit goods that have defrauded customers out of "ten of millions" of dollars.
FTC investigators apparently went undercover and purchased the alleged malicious software four times. They discovered that the software consistently lied, telling them that they had a slew of viruses and security issues on their machines when, in fact, they did not. 404Media and Court Watch were the first to report the news.
One Restoro scan reported to the FTC that their test PC had 522 vulnerabilities that needed to be repaired. A Reimage scan discovered 1,244 so-called "issues," which the software classified as "PC privacy issues," "junk files," "crashed programs," and "broken registry issues." According to the complaint, these flaws were part of a larger scheme to offer buyers fraudulent "repair" tools.
After installation, the software prompted the user to call a phone number to "activate" the software. However, the FTC claims that this is also part of the scheme, as the phone call sends users to a person who attempts to upsell the customer on further computer "repair services" over the phone, the lawsuit alleges.
The FTC claims that the two software programs, which originate from the same place in Cyprus, have successfully tricked clients out of "tens of millions" of dollars. Reimage was added to a risk-monitoring program in 2019 because so many customers used credit card chargebacks to demand refunds. A large number of people also complained online, claiming the products are a scam.
According to the lawsuit, Visa also claimed in 2020 that the developers of the programme were involved in "fraudulent activities." Due to the large volume of customer chargeback requests, Visa later placed one of the Restoro-affiliated companies on a watch list in 2021.
Restoro and Reimage are now facing charges from the FTC for allegedly misrepresenting their products and breaking laws pertaining to US telemarketing. Concerning the possibility that the developers of Restoro and Reimage will "continue to injure consumers and harm the public interest" in the absence of action, it expresses concern that the threat actors behind it won't stop.
