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
52 Responses
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..
I dont see how you fall for this crap.. bittorrent in its latest stage is not that complicated.. noob friendly really.
Anyone who cant use a public tracker without getting a fake file is a retard, and is better off on a private tracker where there is no such thing as a learning curve. Leave the real work, like fighting for everyone’s legal right to use bittorrent to the big boys like Isohunt and TPB. The only reason most of your precious private sites are still around is because the likes of the MPAA are trying to fry the big fish. If that happens, you’re all fucked. They could waste time and money closing shitty private sittes down all day long and it wouldnt make any difference, so instead they’re trying to get a ruling against the big ones so the little ones dont have a legal leg to stand on. Yet alot of you ungreatful fucks who bash public sites seem to be ignorant of the fact that if it were not for public sites taking on the legal might of the RIAA or MPAA, chances are you wouldnt have a private site to jerk each other off at.
[quote]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.[/quote]
Most of the time the versions are not very different, they just make a new version to try to get people to buy another DVD of it.
Now there are exceptions to the “not much difference” rule (like the extended version of the lord of the rings), but they are just exceptions.
[quote comment="302173"]Anyone who cant use a public tracker without getting a fake file is a retard, and is better off on a private tracker where there is no such thing as a learning curve. Leave the real work, like fighting for everyone’s legal right to use bittorrent to the big boys like Isohunt and TPB. The only reason most of your precious private sites are still around is because the likes of the MPAA are trying to fry the big fish. If that happens, you’re all fucked. They could waste time and money closing shitty private sittes down all day long and it wouldnt make any difference, so instead they’re trying to get a ruling against the big ones so the little ones dont have a legal leg to stand on. Yet alot of you ungreatful fucks who bash public sites seem to be ignorant of the fact that if it were not for public sites taking on the legal might of the RIAA or MPAA, chances are you wouldnt have a private site to jerk each other off at.[/quote]
fuck off!
if anyone can’t tell real from fake then only because they are n00bs. everyone is a n00b at some point and your retarded attitude really doesn’t help.
a lot of fakes you cannot tell the difference that easily and a lot of uploaders make mistakes.
private sites are great because they are moderated and don’t give you so much shit.
public sites are great because they have big collection and you find rare stuff easier.
then there is h33t with the best of both and even more. only register to upload, registration is open 24/7. moderated and a friendly community.
let the noobs be noobs
heet is a terrible site, run by a little hitler, wannabe 1337 tool. Wait until demonoid returns, then heet will disappear up its own arsehole!
[quote comment="302173"]Anyone who cant use a public tracker without getting a fake file is a retard, and is better off on a private tracker where there is no such thing as a learning curve. Leave the real work, like fighting for everyone’s legal right to use bittorrent to the big boys like Isohunt and TPB. The only reason most of your precious private sites are still around is because the likes of the MPAA are trying to fry the big fish. If that happens, you’re all fucked. They could waste time and money closing shitty private sittes down all day long and it wouldnt make any difference, so instead they’re trying to get a ruling against the big ones so the little ones dont have a legal leg to stand on. Yet alot of you ungreatful fucks who bash public sites seem to be ignorant of the fact that if it were not for public sites taking on the legal might of the RIAA or MPAA, chances are you wouldnt have a private site to jerk each other off at.[/quote]
Yup.
stfu is right on the money.
and so is “fuck off” peter griffin.
There is no fight here, just some remnants of some snotty ‘cooler than thou’ culture still lingering and poisoning discussion: the whole allure of “being in the know”, having l33t cred, the badassery and posing, and recockulous “scene” worship is that same ‘ol juvenile shite, the lame power fantasies/popularity contests of immature people.
I don’t care if you have carried aXXo’s lunchbox since ‘back in the day’
or care a quark about some guy called “kÆoSticon” that sez “only uZe black xite trakkers! -dienoobZZ!”
…the “scene” bashing bt, private bt bashing public, public bt bashing gnutella/soulseek whatever… – all the while capital and its shitheads are actually bashing people; bashing in doors, suing people, sabotaging, lying, taking down Demonoid, threatening, Hz throttling, spying, ….
Grow the fuck up people
and pick the right fight.
[quote comment="302195"]
fuck off!
if anyone can’t tell real from fake then only because they are n00bs. everyone is a n00b at some point and your retarded attitude really doesn’t help.
a lot of fakes you cannot tell the difference that easily and a lot of uploaders make mistakes.
private sites are great because they are moderated and don’t give you so much shit.
public sites are great because they have big collection and you find rare stuff easier.
then there is h33t with the best of both and even more. only register to upload, registration is open 24/7. moderated and a friendly community.[/quote]
My point is that those that choose to use private trackers pretend they know what they are doing, when they do not, so bash public trackers becuase of their own lack of common sense. I was not having a go at ‘noobs’ in general, mistakes on their part are bound to happen and its part and parcel of learning the ins and outs of bittorrent. I only ever use specialist private trackers, for specific types of files not generaly found on public trackers, or even the majority of private trackers for that matter. For everything else I use public trackers or usenet. I havn’t downloaded a fake from a public tracker in near on 4 years and think that people who bitch (noobs aside) about getting fakes from public trackers obviously dont have a fucking clue. Simple as that.
Download VLC and Klite codecs. if then you cant open the file. its 100% fake.
[quote comment="302173"]Anyone who cant use a public tracker without getting a fake file is a retard, and is better off on a private tracker where there is no such thing as a learning curve. Leave the real work, like fighting for everyone’s legal right to use bittorrent to the big boys like Isohunt and TPB. The only reason most of your precious private sites are still around is because the likes of the MPAA are trying to fry the big fish. If that happens, you’re all fucked. They could waste time and money closing shitty private sittes down all day long and it wouldnt make any difference, so instead they’re trying to get a ruling against the big ones so the little ones dont have a legal leg to stand on. Yet alot of you ungreatful fucks who bash public sites seem to be ignorant of the fact that if it were not for public sites taking on the legal might of the RIAA or MPAA, chances are you wouldnt have a private site to jerk each other off at.[/quote]
Ok, But have fun with slow download speeds, crappy descriptions, no organization and people commenting “SSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD!!!!”
Unfortunately, it may be a good idea to include http://www.eztvefnet.org on that list now. The domain was (as covered on Torrentfreak earlier) parked, and has been hijacked by what appears to be scammers. It is not in any way related to EZTV anymore.
The comments to this post reminded me to have another look at a private tracker site, as it allows new registrations at the start of each month. I finally got in. :)
I think it’s really important, however, to keep supporting public sites like TPB and to try and educate newbies.
I’ve uploaded 100 public torrents and given assistance to many noobs who had never used torrents before. In the battle against lawyers clinging to outdated copyright laws, we have continue to share files openly. The bastards can’t sue EVERYBODY, so please keep uploading decent torrents so that the scammers and lawyers don’t destroy the system.
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[quote=stfu]The only reason most of your precious private sites are still around is because the likes of the MPAA are trying to fry the big fish.[/quote]
Dude, what the hell? Last time I checked, Oink and Demonoid were both private sites, and both were taken down… and both were probably run a lot better than most public sites. Educate yourself on what exactly you are talking about before you go on a rant like that next time. Thanks in advance.
^^ fubar’d the quote, original quote was by STFU, but we all already knew that… Remind me to actually get some sleep before posting things the next time.
So you see a reliable author, but the file could still be polluted from malseeds, or even someone is impersonating him. What then? And how to identify good ones when there’s no comments, and video previewing is getting harder all the time for some reason, or is it just me?
“Well at least we all learned a very important lesson from all of this.”
– Said in Groucho Marx voice
Yah Ernesto, EZTV is good for reliable TV torrents… we need more sites like that who check all their torrents instead of letting any users upload.
Also there is the SuperFundo which TorrentFreak has in their link section… its the best for movies.
http://superfundo.org/
I didn’t even know about TPB until I started reading this site. To this day the only thing that I use BT for is anime off of sites that I trust, namely animesuki.com and dattebayo.co I’ve got no reason to use the others. Most of the Fake torrents/spyware/viruses that I’ve seen came through shareaza, I’ve learned to spot them when they show up in the searches and block those results from showing up.
I have always been wary of the torrents from the main public places .. for example look at the movie 10,000 at seedpeer.com and you will find twenty different movie files for 10,000 and they are all fake asking for you to either pay or use some whacked codecs…just use your head and the private trackers are the way to go..BTW Demonoid might have been a private tracker, but anyone could d/l or access all the files (like supernova) and that is what doomed it…
Thats because hasn’t been released, Scene or otherwise.
RESEARCH YOU MORNONS
If you are expecting to get a dvd-rip or movies that are up and coming, you are too stupid to live. Please get off my internet.
ahaha
Nicely done.
I suggest, never going to a site called Codex-Creations. The staff are rude a*sholes, without half a brain between them. The owner is a nazi boy, who thinks he’s the embodiment of the l33t haXor. lol Slow speeds and a racist site against asians.
A disgrace to any community.
I would just like to point out, as we are talking about scams here, that EZTV’s old URL (http://eztvefnet.com/) is now in the hands of scammers.
Please be aware that the REAL EZTV web site is now at: http://eztv.it .
There was a case on the EZTV forums that someone actually did try to sign up to the scam site, so this message is to just spread the word out. The guys that run EZTV would never want your money. Everything is still free :D
Be vigilant guys. There be scallywags about.
Tio Malo is right. I get sick of this whole Noob bashing thing, I know sod all about protocols, network hierarchies, hardware and all the latest hacks, I’m a Noob. Yet I wrote decent games in basic when I was 10 just by looking at code on my Dad’s computer, I was a good competition chess player, a great commercial illustrator and now work as a visual effects animator on feature film which many of the l33t would give their right mouse finger to do. So don’t feel too superior, not everyone has the inclination to spend every waking moment immersed in this stuff, in the words of the Blizzard creators on the WOW Southpark episode “No, I have a life”
Are there any real superhero movie downloads? and are there any torrent sites where they make sure theres no viruses?
@21 “There is no excuse to use public trackers”
There’s no excuse to use private ones either
I download the movie only to find when I go to play back there is no audio. Any suggestions
I agree
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