Microsoft, Washington state sue over 'scareware' pop-up ads (TX Firm)

[sonias]

Yahoo News
Microsoft, Washington state sue over 'scareware' pop-up ads

By Elinor Mills, CNET Mon Sep 29, 2:01 PM ET

Microsoft and the Attorney General's office in Washington state said on Monday they have filed a handful of lawsuits over pop-up ads that scare consumers into paying for software that supposedly fixes critical errors on a PC.

The lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's office alleges a Texas firm sent incessant pop-up ads that falsely claimed the computer had critical errors in its registry and directed people to a Web site where they could download free scanning software to find the problems.

The software then reports 43 critical problems and offers to sell a fix for $39.95. However, the software, dubbed "Registry Cleaner XP," does nothing but lull the consumer into a false sense of security, officials said.

It's a "blatant rip off of consumers," Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a news conference. Consumers were "duped into downloading a fake scan (of the computer) and then duped into paying for software they don't need."

Ha it takes the Washington AG's office to clean scammers out of Texas! :eyes:

Sonia