File Sharing Scams

File sharing scams employ sites that try to trick visitors into buying or paying for free file sharing software or other useless software. Some even offer so-called file sharing subscriptions, charging a user up to $60 every month to use free file sharing software. You can find a list of file sharing scam sites in the file sharing scam sites guide. Keep reading for more information on file sharing scam sites.

Most of the file sharing scam sites can easily be recognized, however some will go as far as registering domains similar to real file sharing sites and copying their site design. There are three types of file sharing scam sites.

Basic File Sharing Scam Sites

These sites will have a domain address that immediately attracts the attention of unwary visitors. Examples of words that may be present in the domain are: free music, mp3 download, music access, movie downloads, music sharing etc. These sites may have a high ranking in result pages on search engines since their domains carry frequently used keywords.

However, owners of these sites will go even further and buy ad spaces on sites and search engines; hence insuring a good placement and exposure to users. A popular advertiser for these sites is in fact Google Adsense. Google Adsense shows advertisement relevant to the page content, meaning file sharing scam sites will be advertised on trusted file sharing sites. This technique has led to much confusion in the past regarding the stance of some websites towards file sharing scam sites.

Average File Sharing Scam Sites

In order to increase their profits (and subsequently the number of victims); file sharing scam sites have turned to a more specific method of scamming. They will try to use the reputation of trusted file sharing sites against them. They simply register domains similar to that of a real file sharing site, in the hopes of catching visitors off guard. This includes registering similar domains but with common erroneous spellings.

A file sharing scam site may register a domain with the same name, but with a different TLD (TLD being the last part of a domain: .com, .net, .be, etc.). Other techniques are registering the same domain TLD and nearly the same name, for example: only one letter L instead of the required two. Usually these file sharing scam sites tend to copy the layout, design and graphics of the real file sharing site. This way it hopes it will make users believe their beloved site now requires a "file sharing subscription".

Advanced File Sharing Scam Sites

The most advanced file sharing sites will be more careful about exposing their true nature. In general, more time will have been put into making the website. They will present the visitor with different real file sharing programs; provide some information about them and a download link. At first glance everything will seem alright, they might even comment on various file sharing programs, advising you which one to use.

However, the real problems arises when you actually download a file from their site. There are a vast number of problems that you can run in to. The file you downloaded may be the real file sharing program wrapped up in a custom installer that also installs malware, spyware and adware in the background. The file could also simply present you with instructions on how to obtain the real software; obviously requiring you to pay a certain fee, either by phone, mobile or credit card. During this process you may be redirected to a hidden section of the site where you can pay online.

Certain scam sites will go one step further and start polluting file sharing networks with files that can only be opened or viewed by their paid or malware infested software. The techniques used usually do not allow other (free) software to open or view the files. One of the most common scams is to wrap files into an archive which only their program can unpack. Another common scam is to alter videos so they can only be played by one of their video players. Always pay close attention to the file extension of the files you are downloading, if you do not recognize the file type and you cannot find it in our file types dictionary you'd best not start downloading it.

Conclusion

A new and inexperienced user can easily fall victim to a file sharing scam site. Not much is being done to shut down these sites, or educate people for that matter. There have been a few legal steps in the right direction. However, quite ironically, in practice it turns out officials are more worried about people that find their way to real file sharing software. File sharing scam sites that have the courage to defend themselves state they offer "file sharing support" (as in help) and not "file sharing services"; a discrepancy which is carefully covered up on the actual site. The actual help users receive is usually limited to pointing them to the free online software documentation.

Hopefully you found this guide useful and came across it before ending up with "file sharing subscription".

More on the Author

This article was written by FileSharingZ.com. Here at File Sharing Z we are interested in file sharing news and downloads. We follow the main file sharing trends and try to help you where we can.