WASHINGTON, DC — Once upon a time, the online menace could proudly proclaim at least a million people screwed – but thanks to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Internet denizens of all security levels may soon be able to say “thank you, please drive to jail!”Most loathed for launching a massive “scareware” campaign packed with false claims of detected infestations of viruses, spyware and unauthorized porn, the schemers at Innovative Marketing, Inc. and ByteHosting Internet Services, LLC managed to dupe more than a million consumers into purchasing vaporware products that promised to solve their non-existent problems.

WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe and XP Antivirus were among the virtual products pawned off on their unsuspecting victims – until the FTC managed to slow, if not entirely stop, the companies’ pilfering of pockets and invasion of hard drives.

Thanks to a decision made by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the assets of both entities have been frozen in order to make it possible for consumers to have some future financial compensation.

Not only suckered by the companies’ deceptions were consumers – but also advertising networks and websites, which carried ads for the various products. As the FTC explains it, the companies managed to convince the advertising venues that they represented valid professional entities. Alas, code inserted into the ad spots made them invisible to surfers. Instead, they viewed another set of ads which hijacked those who clicked, taking them to websites which claimed to run security and privacy scans on visitors’ computers. These so-called “scans” would then return a laundry list of alleged infections and infestations, urging them to purchase security solutions starting at $39.95 and going up in price from there.

The FTC contends that the scans were utterly for theater.

According to the FTC, Innovative Marketing and ByteHosting Internet Services, with the assistance of Daniel Sundin, Sam Jain, Marc D’Souza, Kristy Ross and James Reno violated the FTC Act. Maurice D’Souza is listed by the FTC as a relief defendant who received funds from the scam.

Under the court’s order, the defendants may no longer misrepresent their services, falsely claim to offer any kind of computer analysis, or incorrectly claim to have detected security or privacy breaches on a consumer’s computer system. Further, none may use domain names got by using false or partial information, place ads on behalf of a third party without their consent or in any other way cloak or attempt to conceal their identities.

Sites that hosted the defendants’ websites or provided domain-registration services must protect consumers from accessing those online locations. The ultimate goal of the FTC is to seek redress for harm already done and enforce a permanent restriction on the defendants so that they may never engage in another “scareware” marketing attempt again.

Innovative Marketing has offices in Kiev, Ukraine, but is incorporated in Belize. ByteHosting Internet Services calls Cincinnati, OH home.