1. Check the price of the software on the website of the manufacturer. If the price that you are being offered is way out of line with what the manufacturer is charging, it is a pretty safe bet that you are being asked to buy stolen software. Don’t.

2. If you agree to buy a piece of software...the price seems to be in line...but you get to the seller’s sales and service page and are asked to forego your right to a chargeback claim on your credit card, do not complete the sale. You should always have the right to protest a sale and you never want to give up that right.

3. Each manufacturer of a legitimate software product places an embedded code in the software. You are very likely being asked to purchase stolen software if you are instructed to use a special number or a different procedure to activate the software.

4. If you buy a piece of software and are sent a disc to install it on your computer and on the disc you see either NFR or OEM, it was stolen. NFR means, Not For Resale. This is most often stamped on a beta product version. OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer. This code is stamped on software that is included in the purchase of a new computer.

5. All legitimate software can be registered. If the seller of the software tells you that it cannot be registered, you can bet that it was stolen. You are not a criminal but if you buy software that you know has been stolen, you can become a criminal. Receiving stolen property is a crime in all fifty states and in most civilized countries in the world. Don’t!

6. Those who sell legitimate software will always supply you with their names, addresses and telephone numbers. They have nothing to hide. Those who are selling stolen or pirated software will not provide you with their real names, real addresses or real telephone numbers....and their email addresses are changed daily...or more frequently.

7. All legitimate software manufacturers and retailers will give you a written warranty. They will also have a very fair refund policy. The crooks will offer neither.

8. We’ve discussed what SPAM is. It is a bulk email that you receive that you have not asked for. Legitimate software manufacturers and retailers do not engage in the illegal act of sending SPAM. If you get an offer for a piece of software at a ridiculously low price and that offer arrives in your inbox as SPAM. Hit the delete button and forget about it.

If you order a piece of software at a really low price, pay for it, and it never shows up in your mail box or you don’t receive the download instructions forthwith, that is the best of the bad things that can happen to you.

In the last chapter we talked about phishing and pharming briefly. Bogus software or stolen software or Totally Useless Software is the preferred method of cannibals to have you for lunch. These pieces of software very often contain malicious codes for the purpose of either phishing or pharming.

If you go to a website where bogus software is being sold, put in your personal information (including your credit card information), you will have been the victim of a phishing scam. Do you want to try to guess what will happen to that information that you supplied while you were looking for such a bargain? It won’t be good, I can tell you that. You won’t know who has your information or what they are going to do with it.

Prev

Home

Next

 

index.htm  -   internet-marketing1.htm  -   internet-marketing2.htm  -   internet-marketing3.htm  -   internet-marketing4.htm  -   internet-marketing5.htm  -   internet-marketing6.htm  -   internet-marketing7.htm  -   internet-marketing8.htm  -   internet-marketing9.htm  -   internet-marketing10.htm  -   internet-marketing11.htm  -   internet-marketing12.htm  -   internet-marketing13.htm  -   internet-marketing14.htm  -   internet-marketing15.htm  -   internet-marketing16.htm  -   internet-marketing17.htm  -   internet-marketing18.htm  -   internet-marketing19.htm  -   internet-marketing20.htm  -   internet-marketing21.htm  -   internet-marketing22.htm  -   internet-marketing23.htm  -   internet-marketing24.htm  -   internet-marketing25.htm  -   internet-marketing26.htm  -   internet-marketing27.htm  -   internet-marketing28.htm  -   internet-marketing29.htm  -   internet-marketing30.htm  -   internet-marketing31.htm  -   internet-marketing32.htm  -   internet-marketing33.htm  -   internet-marketing34.htm  -   internet-marketing35.htm  -   internet-marketing36.htm  -   internet-marketing37.htm  -   internet-marketing38.htm  -   internet-marketing39.htm  -   internet-marketing40.htm  -   internet-marketing41.htm  -   internet-marketing42.htm  -   internet-marketing43.htm  -   internet-marketing44.htm  -   internet-marketing45.htm  -   internet-marketing46.htm