The six companies named in the FTC complaint include Pecon Software Ltd., Finmaestros LLC, Zeal IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Virtual PC Solutions, Lakshmi Infosoul Services Pvt. Ltd. and PCCare247 Inc. The FTC has also named 14 corporate defendants and 17 individual defendants.

The FTC says it is increasing efforts with international regulators to go after scammers that use scare tactics to get consumers to buy unneeded security software. In the latest case, the FTC worked with authorities in Australia, Canada and the U.K. Microsoft also assisted in the investigation.

Separately, that a federal court fined the last defendant in a scareware scam $163 million. In 2008, the FTC charged defendant Kristy Ross with taking part in an operation that used fake online computer scans to pretend to find malware on computers and then sell software to remove it for $40 to $60.

Ross and six other defendants duped more than 1 million consumers in the scam, the FTC says. Victims were lured to the scareware sites through online advertising.

in CSOonline's Malware/Cybercrime section.