Office Depot and tech support firm to pay $35 million after investigation by Jesse Jones

Office Depot and Support.com — which was exposed by KIRO 7's Jesse Jones after they were caught pushing customers to buy products they didn't need — agreed to pay a total of $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations.

Office Depot will pay $25 million while its software supplier, Support.com, Inc., agreed to pay $10 million as part of their settlements with the FTC. The FTC intends to use these funds to provide refunds to consumers.

This came after Jesse Jones’ undercover investigation exposed the practices – and the company pledged to “take appropriate action.”

The FTC alleged that the companies tricked customers into buying millions of dollars’ worth of computer repair and technical services by deceptively claiming their software had found malware symptoms on the customers’ computers.

In the terms of the settlement, Office Depot and Support.com did not admit any wrongdoing.  While neither company responded directly to KIRO 7, Office Depot gave the following statement to the Washington Post and other media outlets.

"While Office Depot does not admit to any wrongdoing regarding the FTC's allegations, the company believes that the settlement is in its best interest in order to avoid protracted litigation," the company said in a statement.

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