Warning: do not exchange software or buy cracked code

I made the mistake. There are a few members of this forum who send private messages offering to exchange programs or sell cracked code for a fraction of the list price. So I bought just one program from one of these guys that normally sells for USD 1500 for only USD 250. He offered to send me screenshots to check before purchase and he he was very friendly. Next you can guess what happened: (1) my computer kept crashing (2) the program had a backdoor one could trace only by using a special scanner while antivirus was unable to detect it. (3) The seller black mails me now to report me to the software company if I do not buy a subscription from him and pay by Western Union USD 50 monthly to his account in a bank somewhere in Russia.

I had to hire a lawyer and this has cost me already 3 to 4 times the price of the software I bought. This is hell. Never buy cracked software from a person in a forum or chat room.

agree totally. best to buy legit software.

although, rather than get laywers involved, you could have simply trashed your old PC, and bought a fresh new one for about £300, and re-load all your old settings and apps.
(no evidence of priate s/w, etc,)

Hi dmilong

I sympathise with your problem.
Pirate software is only worth considering if totally free IMO, as why should someone make a profit from giving you illegal software which probably cost them nothing to get hold of........

a timely warning.

I'd be grateful if people would report instances of the pm system being used in this way.

jon

I have to admit I have been offered apps for a cheap price via PM, but I tend to delete them! (difficult situation, it is a Private Message, so unsure whether to divulge contents to a third party. luckily, they always been from one-time posters, and not regular posters.)

You should have agreed to buy the software and messed him around with payment.

Would have been an interesting PC to carry out forensics on. I would have liked to have a look at it.

Trendie is right you should have simply bought a new PC or just erased your existing system.

Be warned though - they may now know your email address and passwords as well as to your accounts. No doubt they know your setup in terms of switch and ADSL modem and your IP address unless you are running DHCP on your ADSL box. However, more than likely if it's always on even then you'll get the same one.

What advice did your lawyer give you and how much did he charge?

My lawyer is a smart young guy. He told me to purchase the software license and become a registered customer. Simple solution, isn't it? In my panic state I couldn't think clearly. Now nobody can accuse me of using cracked software and even if they do I can prove I own a legal license and I don't need to use a pirated copy. I also changed my hard disk to a better one and destroyed the original.

Would you be interested in buying a bridge by any chance?...I just happen to have a spare...