Watch Out For Counterfeit Software Scams

2 comments

in Internet Fraud

Fraudsters are always looking to make money on the internet and they use a number of different schemes to do just that.

One way in which they achieve their nefarious means is through distributing counterfeit software.

counterfeit software scams

counterfeit software scams

Typically, these fraudsters will open up online stores from which to sell their warez.

They will then advertise the popular software products of the day at a huge discount, often from 50% or even much more.

To lend an air of credibility to the deals that they are offering they will also falsely claim that they are authorised sellers for the software on their sites.

Should you happen to buy counterfeit software from such a seller it is likely that you will end up extremely disappointed and out of pocket as the programs will most likely come with fraudulent serial keys.

Such keys, if not already blocked by the software manufacturer at the time of your purchase, will likely prove to be useless in a short period of time.

How Do I Protect Myself From Counterfeit Software Scams?

As ever, commonsense is the key here.

If a product is priced at a ridiculously low level then alarm bells should ring loudly in your head.

Also, you should also be very wary of buying anything from websites you know nothing about.

In the case of software, you can always contact the producer of the software you are interested in to check whether the website you’ve seen is indeed an authorised seller of said product.

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    Lee's non-technical background allows him to write about internet security in a clear way that is understandable to both IT professionals and people just like you who need simple answers to your security questions.

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    { 2 comments… read them below or add one }

    Garen @ Report Online Scams March 20, 2010 at 1:23 am

    I have noticed a lot of these on Craigslist. People are selling adobe creative suite cs4 for $30. I can’t believe some one would be that foolish to sell something pirated on Craigslist!

    Reply

    Lee March 20, 2010 at 1:27 am

    I can!
    I’ve seen pirated software on offer in many otherwise legitimate locations – I would imagine a large amount of it goes undetected by the administrators.

    Reply

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