Source: United States Department of Justice
The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that the government will collect $650,000 in consumer redress from corporate defendants Nexway, SASU, Nexway Group AG, Nexway, Inc., asknet Solutions AG, asknet, Inc., (collectively Nexway), and individual defendants Casey Potenzone and Victor Iezuitov. The defendants’ payment of the $650,000 will result in the suspension of the total monetary judgment of $49.5 million granted by the court.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the government alleges that, since at least August 2016, the defendants violated the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by processing credit card payments for India-based Tech Live Connect and other foreign clients that commit telemarketing fraud via tech support scams. The complaint alleges that Nexway helped its clients open and use merchant accounts to process credit card charges. In a typical scam, Nexway’s client caused deceptive pop-up notifications to appear on a consumer’s computer screen, warning that the computer was infected with a virus or freezing the screen and displaying a phone number to call for help. Consumers who called reached call centers in India and were convinced to pay for “repairs.” The consumers’ credit card charges were processed by Nexway’s credit card merchant account. Nexway received a commission for each charge. The complaint alleges that Nexway and its principals worked with TLC and other fraudster clients despite knowing or consciously avoiding knowing that they were engaged in fraudulent telemarketing and other deceptive practices. The government also asserts that Nexway engaged in “credit card laundering” by allowing its clients to use Nexway’s credit card merchant accounts for their telemarketing scam even though Nexway was not the merchant on those transactions.
“The Department of Justice will not hesitate to pursue and hold accountable payment processors who facilitate tech support scams that defraud consumers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to protecting consumers from companies that engage in or support deceptive practices.”
“Companies like Nexway that knowingly launder charges for scammers are breaking the law and helping scammers cheat money from consumers,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will not hesitate to use its law enforcement powers to stop them.”
This matter is being handled by Claude Scott of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Russell Deitch and J. Ronald Brooke of the FTC.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at www.FTC.gov.The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced that the government will collect $650,000 in consumer redress from corporate defendants Nexway, SASU, Nexway Group AG, Nexway, Inc., asknet Solutions AG, asknet, Inc., (collectively Nexway), and individual defendants Casey Potenzone and Victor Iezuitov. The defendants’ payment of the $650,000 will result in the suspension of the total monetary judgment of $49.5 million granted by the court.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the government alleges that, since at least August 2016, the defendants violated the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by processing credit card payments for India-based Tech Live Connect and other foreign clients that commit telemarketing fraud via tech support scams. The complaint alleges that Nexway helped its clients open and use merchant accounts to process credit card charges. In a typical scam, Nexway’s client caused deceptive pop-up notifications to appear on a consumer’s computer screen, warning that the computer was infected with a virus or freezing the screen and displaying a phone number to call for help. Consumers who called reached call centers in India and were convinced to pay for “repairs.” The consumers’ credit card charges were processed by Nexway’s credit card merchant account. Nexway received a commission for each charge. The complaint alleges that Nexway and its principals worked with TLC and other fraudster clients despite knowing or consciously avoiding knowing that they were engaged in fraudulent telemarketing and other deceptive practices. The government also asserts that Nexway engaged in “credit card laundering” by allowing its clients to use Nexway’s credit card merchant accounts for their telemarketing scam even though Nexway was not the merchant on those transactions.
“The Department of Justice will not hesitate to pursue and hold accountable payment processors who facilitate tech support scams that defraud consumers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The department is committed to protecting consumers from companies that engage in or support deceptive practices.”
“Companies like Nexway that knowingly launder charges for scammers are breaking the law and helping scammers cheat money from consumers,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will not hesitate to use its law enforcement powers to stop them.”
This matter is being handled by Claude Scott of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Russell Deitch and J. Ronald Brooke of the FTC.
For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at www.FTC.gov.