#Fake apple virus scan how to
#Fake apple virus scan software

#Fake apple virus scan software

In May 2013, OfficeMax warned its stores not to use the PC Health Check Program after customers received a 'repair.' OfficeMax explained to the stores that if 'any of the questions at the beginning of the В are checked, it will automatically suggest a Software repair,' because the 'tool 'assumes' there is an infection based on questions asked,' the FTC complaint said. 'Despite this and other internal warnings, Office Depot continued until late 2016 to advertise and use the PC Health Check program and pushed its store managers and employees to generate sales from the program.' Advertisement 'For example, one OfficeMax employee complained to corporate management in 2012, saying 'I cannot justify lying to a customer or being TRICKED into lying to them for our store to make a few extra dollars,'' the FTC alleged. The companies were aware of complaints for years but kept on using the deceptive software to trick consumers, the FTC said. 'Consistent with their training, Office Depot and OfficeMax store employees read each of the Initial Checkbox Statements once the program began and selected the corresponding box based on the consumer's response.' FTC: Office Depot disregarded complaints

#Fake apple virus scan how to

'Defendants trained Office Depot and OfficeMax store employees on how to utilize the PC Health Check Program and instructed store employees to check any of the Initial Checkbox Statements that applied based on the consumer's responses,' the complaint said. In some cases, store employees checked the boxes themselves, guaranteeing that the software would produce a warning, the FTC complaint said. such as removing junk files and reconfiguring certain settings.'ДЄfter displaying fake scan results to consumers who had checked any of the four boxes, PC Health Check 'also displayed a 'view recommendation' button with a detailed description of the tech services consumers were encouraged to purchase-services that could cost hundreds of dollars-to fix the problems.' Some later versions of the software did some 'limited optimizations. Office Depot 'tech experts' told customers that PC Health Check would 'optimize' their computers, but in reality the software 'did not runВ complete diagnostics on consumers' computers,' the FTC said. Software provided limited вЂњoptimizationsвЂќ Even before the merger, both were using, which provides 'cloud-based software and technical support services' directly to consumers and indirectly through clients such as office supply retailers, the FTC said. Office Depot and OfficeMax merged in 2013. 'These included questions about whether the computer ran slow, received virus warnings, crashed often, or displayed pop-up ads or other problems that prevented the user from browsing the Internet.' Advertisement 'hile Office Depot claimed the program detected malware symptoms on consumers' computers, the actual results presented to consumers were based entirely on whether consumers answered 'yes' to four questions they were asked at the beginning of the PC Health Check program,' the FTC said. Any yes answer in that survey guaranteed that the program would flag a problem with the user's computer.

At the beginning of each scan, consumers were asked if they experienced PC problems such as repeated crashes or slowness. But PC Health Check was configured to tell consumers their computers were infected regardless of what any scan showed, according to the FTC. The stores offered PC Health Check scans for free, while claiming the value of the scans was between $20 and $60.

The news station found that Office Depot stores claimed to find infections in brand-new computers that had never been connected to the Internet. KIRO 7 in Seattle aired an exposГ© on the practice in November 2016.

The FTC filed its complaint against the companies in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, while at the same time unveiling the settlements with each company. As part of the settlements, neither company admitted or denied the FTC's allegations. 'Defendants bilked unsuspecting consumers out of tens of millions of dollars from their use of the PC Health Check program to sell costly diagnostic and repair services,' the FTC alleged in a complaint that accuses both companies of violating the FTC Act's prohibition against deceptive practices. Further Reading Office Depot caught claiming out-of-box PCs showed вЂњsymptoms of malwareвЂќД«etween 20, Office Depot and OfficeMax offered computer scans inside their stores using a 'PC Health Check' software application created and licensed by.