BitTorrent Rip Off Sites, and How to Avoid Them
Written by Ernesto on March 01, 2008BitTorrent is supposed to be hassle free, that’s why it’s so attractive right? Sadly, it is also used by by scammers to generate money, often through trickery and deception. Recently, a new ring of BitTorrent rip off sites has sprung up, this time related to movie codecs.
Spamming BitTorrent sites with fake movies is nothing new. We’ve reported before how people download movies only to find out that they require a special media player to play it, or others, which are bundled with malware to infect their PC when they install it.
Today, sadly, we have to report on a new ring of BitTorrent scam sites. This particular brand notifies people who try to play a video file they’ve just downloaded that they need to download a codec if they want to play the file. The site they are redirected to is of course a scam, most of them are filled with annoying ads.
Thousands of downloaders have already fallen for this scam, and new reports keep coming in. The downloaded files are simply huge uncompressed videos, named after a popular release. This is what the message looks like: “Warning: HD Codec not detected. Please get the correct codec from [insert site here].”
The following sites have been related to these scams, but there are probably a few more.
http://www.torrentm8.com/
http://www.rapid-torrent.com/
http://www.torrent-movie-host.com/
http://www.thepiilotbay.org/
http://torrentrnate.com/
http://moviehost.rapid-torrent.com/
http://www.everybodyshappytorrents.com/
http://hdmi2.com
http://codec.uploadvid.net
Although we dispute the claim that your PC will be filled with spyware and viruses when you use BitTorrent, there are some basic steps people should know in order to avoid running into them. Below are two examples, for a detailed overview and more tips and tricks, check our tutorial on how to avoid fake torrents and other scams.
1. Read Comments
This is a simple but effective way to find out if the .torrent is legit or not. It only takes a few seconds but it’s time well spent. Very often there are requests from previous downloaders for a password to access the file or some might be asking where to download a special video player to view it.
2. Verify the Source
A good way to find out if a .torrent is real or not is to find out who uploaded the file. There are several well known users that always release torrents on a regular basis, EZTV is a good example.
Happy torrenting..
Previously: Cashing In on Naive BitTorrent Users
Next: After Hijacking Site, Scammers Move to Seize Shareaza Trademark
61 Responses
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Or use a private site.
DURRRRRRR……..
I fully agree with ANON.
sometimes gaining access to a private tracker is much harder then you’d think.
if you have no connection to the private tracker or have no invites to trade.. then you’re forced to live with public trackers only.
Hahaha…
The Piilot Bay.
I suggest you look at mininova’s fake torrent removal forum. The dedication of these people is scary……
By what stretch of the imagination is BitTorrent supposed to be “hassle free”?
Want to download something somewhat older or more obscure? Good luck! After searching every torrent site on the net, you miht find one torrent that seems to be exactly what you want. So you fire up your BT client, import the torrent file and…
“Invalid URL”, “Invalid passkey”, “Error 1103735477″, etc.
Or you connect to the tracker, but the availability registers as 0.567.
Or you waste your time downloading the special, extended, unrated director’s cut of a movie only to discover that the ripper was too stupid to tell the difference between the normal version and the other versions.
Deja Vu, dood.
Thanks for this!
@ Poster…there was someone posing as a regular poster on Usenet recently doing some scam like this with a special codec thingy required to open it. Of course installing the codec = spyware.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7cLdmeZm0ek
Good for you TorrentFreak for calling these sites. This has personally happened to me very many times, and I immediately stop seeding. I don’t understand why people continue to seed, even after finding out it is a fake.
Ernesto you should do a top 10 of bt sites with least fakes. I think mininova would be near the top they’re pretty fast at finding fakes, mediadefender didn’t even bother with them.
If the site asks for any money, or asks you to install anything, chances are it’s not legitimate..
Install the Combined Community Codec Pack, k-Lite codec pack, or use VLC. Use uTorrent/Azerus/Transmission.. You won’t need to install anything else, anything the sites say you have to install will almost always be a virus/crapware.
Combined Community Codec Pack + Real Alternative + QuickTime Alternative.
That is all the codecs you’ll ever need. If not, use VLC for the rest.
How about we just do a DOF at those sites? :)
momma said not to visit strange websites on the cyberweb. My AOL blocks all the evils of the cyberweb.
Yes it is all about the private trackers.
Although I do use public ones too. Its nice you listed the knobby sites.
Cheers TF
yes to all the above, use private sites most definitely, once you’ve got access to some good private trackers you’ll very rarely use mininova/tpb etc. for a foot in the door, try using http://www.btracs.com - it lists the private sites currently open for signup. in particular some good ones open right now are thebox.bz (for uk tv stuff) funfile.org (a general 0day tracker, like torrentleech) and h33t (high quality user torrents).
once you become an active member of private torrent communities and hang out in the irc rooms and forums, you’ll find that you’ll get access more easily to places like what, waffles, goem etc.
@3 It’s not that hard, just check a few of the private torrent sites every few days and you should get into one, especially if it isn’t a large one. I’ve gotten into 4 without using an invite, and I just checked those once or twice.
[quote comment="301717"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=[/quote]
Die pls kthnxbai
sometimes gaining access to a private tracker is much harder then you’d think.
if you have no connection to the private tracker or have no invites to trade.. then you’re forced to live with public trackers only.
Um No. I’m a member of bitgamer, Undergroundgamer, IPtorrents, Torrentdamamge, MidnightTorrents, RevolutionTT, Libertina, Waffles,
I started using Suprnova, Piratebay and Isohunt. Learn how to IRC, join forums, ask around. There is no excuse to use public trackers.
Advice #1 doesn’t really work all the time.
I’ve downloaded an 700mb avi file (from mininova too) which turned out to be one of these fake movies which required special codecs from some website.
I checked the comments before I downloaded. They were only 2. One thanked the uploader and said “nice movie” while the other was like “video 9/10, audio 8/10, great up”
Obviously, scammers can post fake comments about their fake files too. And that torrent was at mininova for about 3 days without anyone saying any different.
I finally got pissed and reported it. It was gone in half an hour.
unfortunately the “special player” thing has happened to me with aXXo files. might have been the site i guess. can’t remember
Good one, keep the n00bs informed, so much we take for granted because we know the scams but for someone starting out…can be tough and once they are bitten they might never come back and we lose a fellow sharer..
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