Florida AG Shuts Down Boynton Beach Tech Support Scam
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - A Boynton Beach tech support company which reportedly scammed its customers out of $25 million has been temporarily shut down again by court order, according to Florida's Attorney General's Office.
The company Client Care Experts, formerly known as First Choice Tech Support, LLC, is owned by CEO Michael Seward and his partner Kevin McCormick. The state's Attorney General's Office said the operation was run out of a boiler room in Boynton Beach and employed more than 200 telemarketers at the location.
The court order follows an effort by McCormick and Seward to dissolve an earlier order obtained by the Attorney General's Office that temporarily shut down the business, froze the company's assets and appointed a receiver to oversee the operation through the conclusion of the case. This week, the court denied the defendants' motion to dissolve and kept the previous order in place pending the final judgement.
"Floridians rely on computers to communicate with family and friends, make purchases and conduct business, and when scammers target these devices they can scare and frustrate consumers, especially our seniors. That is why we are working diligently to identify and stop tech scams targeting Floridians," said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
State investigators say the company used deceptive marketing tactics to create alarming pop-up windows claiming a person's computer was infected. The pop-up warnings directed them to contact a toll-free number. Once connected to the boiler room, unscrupulous sales agents posing as computer technicians would claim to conduct a computer diagnostic test that uncovered malware, according to state investigators. The sales agents would then reportedly convince the unsuspecting callers that they had to spend, on average, $250 to fix their devices.
Bondi's complaint wants McCormick and Seward barred from engaging in deceptive business practices and seeks full restitution for those they reportedly scammed.