Software scammer settles Washington charges for $25,000
A California man who tricked consumers into buying unneeded utility software has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle charges for violating Washington state’s consumer protection and spyware laws.
According to documents filed in King County Superior Court, HoanVinh V. Nguyenphuoc, owner of FixWinReg, sent anonymous “Net Send” messages to computer users telling them that their PCs contained registry errors and immediate attention was necessary to avoid data loss and corruption, Consumer Affairs writes.
In addition, the bogus messages directed users to download a free trial version of the software that would scan their computer to report “critical errors” even when there were none. The free trial software then suggested the errors could be fixed if users bought the full version of the software for $29.95.
Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna sued Nguyenphuoc and other defendants in February 2007 for violating the state’s consumer protection and spyware laws.
In addition to $25,000 in attorneys’ costs and fees, Nguyenphuoc will cough up an additional $75,000 in civil penalties should he ever use Net Send messages to promote products or services, or make other misrepresentations.
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