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October 27, 2005

Windows Hell - It's Stolen Software Season!

by Ferdinand T Cat

Periodically, you may notice a flurry of unsolicited EMAIL offering software at extremely low prices. Such a flurry is going on now for Microsoft Office and Macromedia Studio, thanks to a recent release of a new Studio version, and rumors that the next Microsoft Office is coming in 2006. At such times, the buzz level makes it more likely people are looking to buy.

You will not be surprised to learn that many of these offers-- sent in plain text with numerous mis-spelled words to fool spam filters-- are scams. About.com has a primer on how to recognize software scams, but the safest course is to pass on all of them.

Every now and then, Bruce will get a call from some poor soul who bought software from one of these outfits, and it's always tragic. Using todays tools, you can create an online store in minutes, and then conveniently disappear just as quickly once you've deposited your credit card receipts. Often, the software arrives as a single CD whose label promises that the user manual is on the CD in PDF form (saving YOU money due to reduced shipping charges). If a registration code is available, Microsoft will cheerfully inform you that this particular code has already been activated on a different machine and you have 45 days to fix the problem.

Finally, do not EVER do anything involving somebody who claims to be dealing in warez. This is a hacker codeword for stolen software, and the penalties can be pretty stiff if you're caught.

Chances are that if you're reading this blog, you're savvy enough to know all this; however, you must remember that you are surrounded by a cloud of friends and relatives who have never learned anything about computers except the basics of Word and Excel, and who may think a $60 copy of Office XP is just what the doctor ordered.

So the next time you see one of them, be sure to mention the dangers of EMAILs bearing fantastic savings: after all, it's Stolen Software Season!

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat

Trackposted to NIF, Real Teen, Stop the ACLU, The Political Teen, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd

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Tracked on October 27, 2005 7:40 AM

Comments

From the spam email, I visited one website and saw how much effort they had put into making a professional looking site. I decided a fly by night would not bother putting out that much energy to just disapper with responder money.

I took a deep breath and bought. Everything went smoothly and I saved over five hundred dollars on software, which I wrote to DVD and can reload anytime on any computer I wish.


Posted by: The Owner's Manual at October 27, 2005 10:46 AM

Believe it or not, the one time I ever tried to "steal" a piece of software was my undoing.

There was this game I really liked. It was $20 to buy, but I figured "who's going to put a virus into the hack for a $20 game?"

I then spent two days cleaning out my system and reloading it, followed by two more days trying to figure out how to load drivers, until I realized that (a) when Dell had replaced my laptop, they hadn't sent a new driver disc with it and (b) the drivers I needed weren't available on Dell's site, for the most part, but the ones that were were too new for my old parts.

Don't steal software. If you're going to steal, download movies and music. Much harder to embed viruses in those.


Posted by: Josh Cohen at October 28, 2005 7:25 AM

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