Former CEO, CFO of South Florida Tech Support Scam Plead Guilty to Federal Charges in Southern Illin

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/former-ceo-cfo-south-florida-tech-support-scam-plead-guilty-federal-charges-southern

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Illinois

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Former CEO, CFO of South Florida Tech Support Scam Plead Guilty to Federal Charges in Southern Illinois

There will be no trial for two South Florida men who owned and operated a fraudulent tech support
business known as Client Care Experts, LLC (CCE), U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft announced
today. Michael Austin Seward, 32, of Deerfield Beach, Florida, and Kevin James McCormick, 46, of
Delray Beach, Florida, have both pleaded guilty to a federal indictment charging them with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting in the process that their business
– formerly known as “First Choice Tech Support” – was a scam.

Seward and McCormick were part owners of CCE, based in Boynton Beach, Florida, and held themselves
out as the chief executive officer and chief financial officer respectively. As part of their
guilty pleas, both men admitted that they also oversaw the operations of another fraudulent tech
support business called ABC Repair Tech (ABC), located in Costa Rica.

According to court documents, the defendants purchased pop-up advertisements that would appear
suddenly on a person’s computer screen. The pop-ups were made to look like system warnings and
falsely informed the victims that serious problems, such as viruses or malware, had been detected
on their computers. Often, the pop-ups caused the person’s internet browser to freeze up and stop
responding. The pop-ups also typically warned the victims not to shut down their computers or else
they would lose all their data. Instead, the ads directed them to call a toll-free number, where
they were connected to sales representatives who continued the fraud.

The sales representatives would convince the victims to grant them remote access to their
computers, where normal computer functions and routine processes were highlighted as evidence of
serious computer problems. Victims were never told that the pop-ups that had hijacked their
computers were just advertisements purchased by the tech support company, or that in most instances
they could make the pop-ups go away simply by rebooting their computers. Instead, they were sold
remote “tune-ups” for $250 and anti-virus protection software for another $400. If victims balked
at the steep prices, the sales representatives would offer them a discount for being
a senior citizen or a military veteran or something else.


From 2013-2016, the two companies – CCE and ABC – combined to defraud more than 40,000 people.
Victims were located in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, several
U.S. territories, all 10 Canadian provinces, the United Kingdom, and several other foreign
countries. At least 57 victims of the scams were residents of the Southern District of Illinois,
representing 22 of the district’s 38 counties, including St. Clair and Madison. All told, the two
companies took in over $25 million.
(snip)

[FM123]

1. Wow, these guys are terrible....

It's like having your dentist secretly drill holes into your teeth at your cleaning so you have to come back to have them fill your cavities. That they caused.