The Federal Trade Commission had taken action against several payment processors for facilitating credit card laundering and fraudulent tech support schemes.
The FTC accused the payment processors of assisting scammers in acquiring payment processing accounts by deceiving banks and payment networks and enabling the scammers to launder money by moving charges through numerous accounts, according to an April 17 news release.
“The Department of Justice will not hesitate to pursue and hold accountable payment processors who facilitate tech support scams that defraud consumers,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in the release.
The operators of the fraudulent tech support schemes allegedly scammed millions of dollars from consumers who were deceived into believing that their computers were infected with viruses or malware, the release reported. The FTC obtained court orders to freeze the payment processors' assets and to stop their illegal practices. The agency also sought permanent injunctions and monetary relief.
According to the complaint, Nexway "acted as the payment processor for multiple tech support scams going back to at least 2016," the news release said. The company’s “premium tech support” clients represented a fourth of the company's business between 2016 and 2020.
The complaint details Nexway’s relationships with tech support scammers, in which Nexway acquired credit card merchant accounts and then used those accounts to collect money from consumers on behalf of the scammers, the release reported. The complaint says Nexway, Lezuitov and Potenzone were aware their tech support clients were scammers and directly received numerous complaints about the companies.
The defendants are prohibited from laundering sales through their merchant accounts, must screen and monitor high-risk clients and cannot engage in payment processing for tech support companies use pop-ups or false advertising, according to the release. The orders also impose monetary judgments with Nexway and its subsidiaries ordered to pay $350,000, Asknet and its subsidiaries to pay $150,000, LIezuitov to pay $100,000 and Potenzone to pay $50,000.
