In the telemarketing scams, con artists claimed to be with legitimate companies, such as Dell, Microsoft, McAfee and . They then directed consumers to a utility area on their computers and pretended to detect malware. The scammers then offered to remove the software for fees ranging from $49 to $450.

Consumers who agreed to pay were sent to a website to enter a code to download a program that gave the telemarketers remote access to their victims' computers. Once in the systems, they pretended to remove the non-existent malware and download otherwise free programs.

The defendants tried to hide from law enforcement authorities by using virtual offices that were actually mail-forwarding facilities, as well as 80 different domain names and 130 different phone numbers, the FTC says.

The alleged swindlers have been charged with unfair and deceptive commercial practices, violating telemarketing sales rules and calling numbers on the Do Not Call Registry. The FTC is seeking a permanent shutdown of the operations and restitution to victims.