FTC cracks down on misleading marketer of spyware

We've all seen misleading advertising on the internet about spyware. Popups that claim "your machine is infected!" Then you download the program, only to find that it requires you to buy the program in order to actually do anything about the problem. And it might even lure you into buying by showing lots of false positives. While no spyware vendor is immune from false positives (including us), they certainly shouldn't be a core part of the "marketing plan" for the company.

The FTC has acted against MaxTheater.com/SpywareAssassin and a fellow called Thomas Delanoy for false and deceptive claims in their advertising and scanning. According to the FTC, the company provided free scans that detected spyware that wasn't there (false positives) and didn't remove all spyware as it promised.

The full complaint can be found here and the restraining order here.

If you want to a SpywareAssassin page in action, you can go here, as this site (apparently an affiliate) is still live.


SpywareAssassin is a member of Eric Howes' Rogue/Suspect antispyware programs.


Typical JavaScript popup for SpywareAssassin.