Beware Of New BitTorrent Scam
April 15, 2010 Computer Safety Tip
Latest news reports reveal that scammers are trying to scam BitTorrent users. This is a very clever scam due to the 
factor that it attempts to steal the money of victims by trying to make them pay a “pre trial settlement” in order to cover a “Copyright holder fine”. This is all fake and should be treated in that manner, regardless of the factor that the warning message is going to appear completely authentic. Looks can be deceiving and in this case it definitely is deceiving to all BitTorrent users.
If you receive a warning message which reads as follows you need to ignore it:
“Copyright violation: copyright content detected
Windows has detected that you are using content that was downloaded in violation of the copyright of its respective owners. Please read the following bulletin and try solving the problem in one of the recommended ways.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
During the system scan Antipiracy foundation scanner has detected copyright issues. Please take a look at the list and choose an action: pass the case to a court or settle it in pre-trial order by paying a fine.”
If you fall victim to this scam you will receive a message which states that an: “Antipiracy foundation scanner” has located illegal torrents on the system as a result if you don’t pay $400 immediately from your credit card you will be faced with huge fines as well as the potential of facing jail time.
You need to know that this is all one big attempt to steal your money and you mustn’t fall for any of it. Do no click on any malicious links and no matter what you do, never give out money no matter what you are warned with. Everything which is related to this malicious scam is not real and needs to be treated as something dangerous.
