A joint global action between three international regulators has dismantled a massive global form scam, after US authorities won court orders to close down and freeze funds of imposters posing as Microsoft employees offering and offering services to fix PC viruses.

 

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) collaborated and shared vital intelligence about the operations of the Microsoft imposters.

 

In the join operation, ACMA passed on information on the identities of a number of contact details that broke the Do Not Call Register to the FTC, who then successfully linked the information to domestic US-based parties, and subsequently froze their assets.

 

“The message for scammers is they cannot use the global and borderless world of communications to avoid laws that protect Australians against scams. With new scams appearing more frequently, our citizens need to be vigilant and not respond to insidious trickery,” ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman said.