FTC to pay millions to consumers duped by scareware

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will partially recoup some 300,000 people who fell victim to a scam in which they purchased rogue anti-virus products to fix problems that didn't exist. The money comes from a more-than-$8-million settlement between the FTC and several parties, including Innovative Marketing, whose members were indicted in 2010. The defendants were accused of spreading so-called scareware products, which are sold to consumers after they are falsely made to believe their computers are infected with malware. The FTC expects to award each victim around $20, but it could be more depending on individual loss. "We do a lot of consumer redress," an FTC spokeswoman told SCMagazineUS.com on Friday.