Continuing its crackdown on Internet scareware, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently imposed a fine of over $163 million on scareware scammer Kristy Ross; and her 2002-founded `Innovative Marketing' company and its two employees, Sam Jain and Daniel Sundin.

As per a recent, final ruling by a Maryland court in a long-standing scareware scam case, Ross, Jain and Sundin are liable for $163,167,539.95.

In addition to the penalty imposed by the FTC, Ross has also been permanently banned from selling any kind of computer security software, or software which causes interference with a consumer's computer; and also from any other type of deceptive marketing.

Ross was among the several scareware scammers who were charged in 2008 for duping over one million consumers by prompting them to purchase bogus `computer virus remover' software.

According to FTC's allegations, Ross and other software scammers - including Marc D'Souza and Maurice D'Souza, who worked out a settlement with the agency last year - displayed ads on popular Internet networks and websites, alerting computer users with phony "system scan" notices.

The notices informed the computer users that their systems were infected with a virus, and urged them to go in for needless scanning software to have the virus removed. While the software was sold for between $40 and $60, it neither involved any scanning nor any virus removal!