FTC: Web Scam Artists Pilfered $24.7m From American Businesses
August 15, Register (UK)

After allegedly pilfering more than $24.7m from small businesses and non−profits across the country, a group of Web scam artists will fork over $1.2m to settle a court case 3 brought by the federal government. For several months starting in 2002, according to a suit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the case's 11 defendants forced unauthorized Web
charges onto hundreds of thousands of American companies, nabbing nearly $25m. Five years on, the FTC has announced that 10 of the 11 have agreed to settle, each promising not to pull the same trick again. The lone hold−out, Steven L. Kennedy, looks set for a December trial.

Filed in June of 2006, the FTC suit claims that the 11 made countless cold calls to small businesses and non−profits, offering a free 15−day trial of a Website design service. But it looks like the free trial was less than free. Though operators insisted that the service would automatically cancel after 15−days if it wasn't approved by the customer, the FTC says, the defendants pushed charges onto customer phone bills whether they had approval or not.

Source: FTC: Web scam artists pilfered $24.7m from American businesses | The Register