14 DAY TRIAL // Global mobile marketer Jesta Digital, also known as Jamster, has agreed to refund customers and pay a fine of $1.2 million (€900,000) to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges.
The FTC accused the company of inflating customers’ bills by using bogus antivirus software, also known as “scareware.”
According to the FTC, Jesta targeted Angry Birds players with ads that falsely informed them about virus infections on their devices. When the ads were clicked, victims were taken to a website that warned them about Android viruses.
If users clicked anywhere on the website, they were automatically charged $9.99 (€.7.5) per month for ringtones and other mobile content.
Internal Jesta emails obtained by the FTC show that the company’s officials were actually aware that they were running a scam.
The clever thing about the scheme was that it utilized Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) billing. This system captures the user’s mobile phone number and bills it for various services without the need to obtain the information manually from the consumer.
Users who have been fraudulently billed since December 8, 2011 will be refunded by the company.