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Fake MediaDefender Emails Scam BitTorrent Users
Illegal downloaders afraid of being caught

People who are afraid that they might get caught and fined for their BitTorrent use may find themselves getting sucked into a recent email scam which preys on this fear. Emails are being sent out claiming to come from anti-piracy group MediaDefender which inform the recipient that their illegal filesharing is being tracked. The person is supposed to open up an attachment for information about the violations which, of course, ends up actually being a virus. These emails are apparently being randomly sent out; their success points to the frequency of BitTorrent use and the widespread fear of being caught for illegal downloads.

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chronoss20081
Premium Member
join:2008-03-29

1 edit

chronoss20081

Premium Member

HAHA funny

perhaps media defender needs another leak of software, so people can protect themselves....

how come i never got an email
/me frowns
TheMG
Premium Member
join:2007-09-04
Canada
MikroTik RB450G
Cisco DPC3008
Cisco SPA112

TheMG

Premium Member

Shouldn't that ring a bell?

Look into the zip file for information? If I had received that email I would immediately have known it to be fake. Info about violation would have been in the email itself or at least in a text file, not a zipped attachment, would this have been a legit email.

Then again there seem to be a lack of logical thinking amongst a wide number of computer users, reason why people keep falling for email scams.

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Re: Shouldn't that ring a bell?

said by TheMG:

Look into the zip file for information? If I had received that email I would immediately have known it to be fake.
Especially if it requires a password to open as many of these ZIP files do in order to prevent AV scanners from checking them out. They are usually kind enough to include the password for you.
lordofwhee
join:2007-10-21
Everett, WA

lordofwhee

Member

MediaDefender is falling behind

They should have thought of sending spam targeted at file-sharers YEARS ago. Much cheaper than all this suing the MAFIAA keep doing.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

This could be used as a defense as well.

"When I got the DMCA notification I thought it was a fake/trojan/scam ---- (Provides evidence of such scams) and so I ignored it. I didn't know it was legit, I'm sorry"

chronoss20081
Premium Member
join:2008-03-29

1 recommendation

chronoss20081

Premium Member

wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM

wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM.
Should not someone be arresting these traitors and terrorists?

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

1 recommendation

Morac

Member

Re: wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM

I think you missed the word "Fake" in the title. These emails aren't coming from Media Defender.

fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA
Hitron EN2251
Nest H2D

fuziwuzi

Premium Member

Re: wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM

said by Morac:

I think you missed the word "Fake" in the title. These emails aren't coming from Media Defender.
Perhaps not from "Media Defender" themselves, but I wouldn't put it past the **IAs to employ such a tactic to scare people into submission. I would even go so far as to say it is highly likely these emails are from someone working on the behalf of the **IAs.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

Re: wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM

said by fuziwuzi:

Perhaps not from "Media Defender" themselves, but I wouldn't put it past the **IAs to employ such a tactic to scare people into submission. I would even go so far as to say it is highly likely these emails are from someone working on the behalf of the **IAs.
I highly doubt that. For one it is against the law and the last thing the **IAs want is to be hauled into criminal court. The other reason is that, the **IAs want money (which explains why they are suing their customers). There is no profit to be gained in infecting customers' computers with viruses.
NgtFlyer
join:2000-07-09
Marietta, GA

NgtFlyer

Member

Re: wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM

said by Morac:

said by fuziwuzi:

Perhaps not from "Media Defender" themselves, but I wouldn't put it past the **IAs to employ such a tactic to scare people into submission. I would even go so far as to say it is highly likely these emails are from someone working on the behalf of the **IAs.
I highly doubt that. For one it is against the law and the last thing the **IAs want is to be hauled into criminal court. The other reason is that, the **IAs want money (which explains why they are suing their customers). There is no profit to be gained in infecting customers' computers with viruses.
It is also illegal to DDOS anyone, much less a legitimate business. We all remember the recent attack against Revision3 courtesy of none other than Media Defender itself. I'm tired of the media industry as a whole and their "shoot first, ask questions later" tactics.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

Re: wait a minute isn't what media defender doing TERRORISM

said by NgtFlyer:

It is also illegal to DDOS anyone, much less a legitimate business. We all remember the recent attack against Revision3 courtesy of none other than Media Defender itself. I'm tired of the media industry as a whole and their "shoot first, ask questions later" tactics.
Yes and Media Defender is being sued and will probably go bankrupt. I'm pretty sure that wasn't their business strategy.

There's a big difference though between having crappy software that accidentally implements a DDOS when blocked from access a torrent server (even though that was shady) and intentionally creating and distributing a virus. The penalties for the later are much harsher.

fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA
Hitron EN2251
Nest H2D

fuziwuzi to Morac

Premium Member

to Morac
said by Morac:
said by fuziwuzi:

Perhaps not from "Media Defender" themselves, but I wouldn't put it past the **IAs to employ such a tactic to scare people into submission. I would even go so far as to say it is highly likely these emails are from someone working on the behalf of the **IAs.
I highly doubt that. For one it is against the law and the last thing the **IAs want is to be hauled into criminal court. The other reason is that, the **IAs want money (which explains why they are suing their customers). There is no profit to be gained in infecting customers' computers with viruses.
Being against the law isn't a deterrent to the **IAs. They seem to think they're part of the Executive Branch and are above the law anyway, and in many cases they've shown they can get away with it. You have way too much trust in them, I think. You also seem to believe that the **IAs act logically, which is also an error on your part.

chronoss20081
Premium Member
join:2008-03-29

1 edit

chronoss20081

Premium Member

Yea but Still.....

Still isn't what they are doing anyhow terrorism i mean like if i hack you i goto prison , they get a pat on the back and get told to keep up the good work, so should i be using that or other hackers be using that as a defense? While i am at that why not just start websites and take pictures of these people and publish all that kinda info , htey like violating privacy, why not give them a little back so they get very well known and can get all they deserve hastle wise.

They hack/dos you and does that mean you then average people should get so armed and have fun, lets cause enough shit till they realize they cant be doing this.

In other words if they can hack and cause trouble then i say everyone should be able to.

So why not arm everyone like the USA does with its guns. YES very good idea. More 2 year olds with exploits virii and dos programs. Great idea media defender glad hollywood came up with the idea, something pisses you off ATTACK IT.

-------------
are you sure these are fake?
»www.sgi.nu/diary/topics/ ··· /search/
seems a lot like the above.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

1 edit

NormanS

MVM

Re: Yea but Still.....

said by chronoss20081:

So why not arm everyone like the USA does with its guns.
Eh? The USA gives people its guns? Where do I get mine? Free is always good!
id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT

1 edit

id_deleted

Member

More scum preying on the misinformed.

It pretty sad that people have to suffer this kind of risk simply because they dont know that an alternative exists. You no longer need to download song files illegally as there is a system called HD RadioPC available now that can provide all the free ultra high quality mp3's you could ever want, and it's completely legal.

delt4
Congrats BUCCOS
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Pittsburgh, PA

delt4

Premium Member

Re: More scum preying on the misinformed.

said by id_deleted:

It pretty sad that people have to suffer this kind of risk simply because they dont know that an alternative exists. You no longer need to download song files illegally as there is a system called HD RadioPC available now that can provide all the free ultra high quality mp3's you could ever want, and it's completely legal.
LOL, I remember the ol days of the cassette in the tape deck, waiting for a decent song to come on to record it, only to be ruined by some jagoff DJ talking over the music. Now with HD RadioPC, it wouldn't surprise me if someone wanted to make it illegal.
id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT

4 edits

id_deleted

Member

Re: More scum preying on the misinformed.

Even if they tried and succeeded, exactly how would they ever trace it in order to enforce the law? You cant trace airwaves like you can an IP address. Besides, the laws that make recording broadcasts that use public airwaves legal have been on the books for as long as I can remember and the RIAA would like nothing better than to have them removed, lord knows they have tried their hardest over the years and failed in every attempt.
They also knew there was a very high potential for something like HD RadioPC, so they have been very careful not to license any hardware that could interface with a PC. Absolutely No HD Radio "PC card" tuners or HD Radio USB recievers exist. It was just a matter of time before someone hacked some of the existing recievers so that they could be PC controlled. The RIAA pretty much shot themselves in the foot, but I guess they thought the money involved was worth the risk. That illustrates rather well just how greedy they actually are, but they are certainly not happy campers now.

The days of "finger on the record button" have long past, now you just click the "Auto Record" and every song that plays is saved as an mp3 file. Subchannels are commercial free and commercials have no effect on recording anyway. You can get a bit of talk over on some of the HD versions of older analog channels, but those channels tend to play the same group of songs over and over again, so sooner or later you are bound to obtain a perfect recording of the song. When you can set it to automatically record for days at a time, "sooner or later" becomes pretty much irrelevant.
Your average HD Radio station will play anywhere from 250 to 300 songs in a 24 hr day. Multiply that by the 0.99 cents each you would pay at iTunes for lesser quality mp3 files, then extrapolate that out to "weeks" and you see why HD RadioPC is quickly becoming a very popular system.
I have somewhere between 7000 and 8000 songs recorded now over the last 60 days or so, and I was mostly just fooling around with it here and there. Locating and downloading that many songs would take you "several" months of near constant work, and I wasnt even around my PC during most of the time it recorded.

MrMoody
Free range slave
Premium Member
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC
Netgear CM500
Asus RT-AC68

MrMoody to delt4

Premium Member

to delt4
said by delt4:

Now with HD RadioPC, it wouldn't surprise me if someone wanted to make it illegal.
They will if if gets popular, count on it.
id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT

2 edits

id_deleted

Member

Re: More scum preying on the misinformed.

said by MrMoody:

said by delt4:

Now with HD RadioPC, it wouldn't surprise me if someone wanted to make it illegal.
They will if if gets popular, count on it.
You cant trace an airwave, so it wouldn't matter in the least even if they did, and they dont stand a popcicles chance in hell of ever doing it anyway.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to id_deleted

Premium Member

to id_deleted
said by id_deleted:

It pretty sad that people have to suffer this kind of risk simply because they dont know that an alternative exists. You no longer need to download song files illegally as there is a system called HD RadioPC available now that can provide all the free ultra high quality mp3's you could ever want, and it's completely legal.
is this radio only or do they let you search for what you want to hear?
id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT

4 edits

id_deleted

Member

Re: More scum preying on the misinformed.

No searching capable, but one would look at it more like a brute force search approach with the shear number of songs that result ensuring that you will obtain the one of particluar interest within a short time. Of course you would not set it to record a country station if you are interested in a RAP song, but that should be obvious.
I am fond of the 60's and 70's oldies, and some of the songs I have recorded are not likely to "ever" be found as a download, many are not even available for purchase at iTunes. Some of the older songs I have from the 50's are from original vinyl broadcast digitally over HD Radio, and with the older original source vinyl becoming so rare it would simply cost a fortune to obtain them otherwise.
ctggzg
Premium Member
join:2005-02-11
USA

ctggzg

Premium Member

Success

"These emails are apparently being randomly sent out; their success points to the frequency of BitTorrent use and the widespread fear of being caught for illegal downloads..."

... and the correlation between P2P use (in theft) and low IQ.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords

MVM

Widespread BitTorrent Use?

said by article... :

their success points to the frequency of BitTorrent use and the widespread fear of being caught for illegal downloads.
I thought the people that used BitTorrent were a tiny, tiny minority. I keep hearing 5% vs. 95% that don't.

heh, whatever. OK.

Lying statistics aside, this will hit everyone -- P2P user or not. Very few subscribers are the sole Internet user in their homes, so it's likely that a notice might come to a parent for a child's infringement.

dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI

dnoyeB

Member

I don't follow

"...their success points to the frequency of BitTorrent use and the widespread fear of being caught for illegal downloads."

Come on now. Lets keep it scientific.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Not necessarily related to P2P use

The spread of this isn't necessarily related to high P2P or BT use. You are going to have many people who fall for this because they are gullible. They get the e-mail, and even if they don't use P2P, they think, "Why am I getting this? I'd better open it to see what it's about." They then open it and get infected.

I really wish we could see the results of a study to find out which Internet users are most likely to fall for these scams. Is their success rate age-related, education-related, or maybe a combination of several factors? I think that, until we find out, it's going to be hard to get these scams under control. There is a subset of user who is spreading them, and we need to identify that group.
33591094 (banned)
join:2002-11-19
Canada

33591094 (banned)

Member

Hmmm

Who's more fearful - mediadefender fearing their creditors, or me fearing mediadefender.....

Hmmm - I'm going with the first choice....