The FTC Begins Reimbursing Rogue Antivirus Victims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun sending out reimbursement checks to more than 300,000 people scammed by a rogue antivirus software (also know as scareware) which held a victims computer hostage demanding payment for bogus security software to alleviate the symptoms.

The payments come as the result of lawsuits and a subsequent $8 million settlement reached between the agency and several vendors of the malicious software.

Several companies agreed to surrender the more than $8 million total in ill-gotten gains to settle FTC charges that they used deceptive ads to trick consumers into thinking their computers were infected with viruses or spyware, and then sold them software programs such as Winfixer, Drive Cleaner, and XP Antivirus to "fix" their non-existent problem.

Will the software often charged users more than $100 the average amount of the checks will be $20, however the FTC has said the exact amounts will be based on the amount of individual loss.

Approximately 320,000 checks will be mailed by the FTC's settlement administrator, Epiq Systems. Consumers who believe they are entitled to a refund or have questions may call the settlement administrator toll free at 1-877-853-3541 or visit www.FTC.gov/refunds for more information.