Microsoft sues Indian Company for fraudulent technical support

DQW Bureau

Microsoft has sued an Indian company alleging that it misused company’s name and registered trademarks while providing fraudulent technical support services to unsuspecting consumers. According to reports, Microsoft has filed a case against Bangluru based C-Cubed Solutions along with several other entities saying that these companies were indulged in fraudulent technical support activities. 

Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit has filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in the Central District of California for unfair and deceptive business practices and trademark infringement against C-Cubed Solutions, which according to records is "private business company formed under the laws of India", Omnitech Support based in California and Florida-based Anytime Techies along with two other individuals.

According to the lawsuit, C-Cubed is a "private company associated under the laws of India." Its directors include Marc Haberman, Rachel Eilat Haberman and Jay Wurzberger. C-Cubed is a subsidiary of California-based Customer Focus Services (CFS) and "operates the mail server by which CFS' fraudulent technical support businesses communicate with customers," according to the lawsuit. Omnitech is a name used by CFS, which according to its website is a pioneer in Indian offshoring and call-center outsourcing. It also specializes in tech support outsourcing.

According to reports, Microsoft has alleged in the lawsuit that the defendants used and misused the Microsoft name and its registered trademarks without authorisation in connection with the provision of phony technical support services. The defendants used the Microsoft trademarks to enhance their credentials and confuse customers about their affiliation with Microsoft, the lawsuit alleges. They then used their enhanced credibility to convince consumers that their personal computers are infected with malware in order to sell them unnecessary technical support and security services to clean their computers. In some instances, the defendants actually created security issues for consumers by gaining access to their computers and stealing information stored on them, the lawsuit alleges.

"Many of these technical support companies are able to gain victims' trust by claiming they work for Microsoft, are a Microsoft Certified Partner or somehow affiliated with Microsoft," Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit Senior Attorney Courtney Gregoire said in a blog post.

"In some instances, once the tech scammer gains remote access to a consumer's computer, they will use scare tactics - telling the consumer that if they do not pay for support services they will lose all of their files, suffer a computer crash, or risk the leak of personal identifiable information," Gregoire said.

Microsoft claims it has received more than 65,000 customer complaints related to fraudulent tech support scams just since May of this year. According to a survey issued by Microsoft, over one-third of U.S. citizens fall for the scams once contacted, causing them to suffer approximately $1.5 billion in financial losses each year.

Microsoft has warned users contacted by so-called Microsoft tech support not to pay for any software or services and to hang up the phone if there is a fee involved. It also asked to report any of these scams to the authorities. They can also be reported on a Microsoft website.

The US Federal Trade Commission advised consumers, “If you get a call from someone who claims to be a tech support person, hang up and call the company yourself on a phone number you know to be genuine. A caller who creates a sense of urgency or uses high-pressure tactics is probably a scam artist.”