Cashing In on Naive BitTorrent Users
Written by Ernesto on February 29, 2008BitTorrent sites are overloaded with ads for malware ridden BitTorrent clients and paid tutorials that promise to quadruple your download speed. They try to lure naive users into downloading their products with catchy phrases such as “Breakthrough Information Will Have You Downloading Torrents Up To 475% Faster”. It’s time to take them down.
Last year we reported several times on the family of malware supported BitTorrent clients such as Torrent101, BitRoll, TorrentQ and GetTorrent. These clients promised ‘high speed downloads’ but actually installed a payload of malware onto the victim’s PC. It seems that our articles resulted in the desired response, with most torrent sites effectively banned their ads.
Recently, however, we have noticed an increase in ads for paid tutorials. A couple of months ago we posted about highspeedtorrent.com, a site that promised to boost download speeds up to 500% faster. Unfortunately they are still around, the only thing they have changed since then is their initial claim, they now promise a 475% increase in download speed.
The only thing these people are after is money from naive BitTorrent users, and they do this by advertising their ‘revolutionary’ tutorials on BitTorrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, Mininova and Isohunt, making thousands of dollars a month. Technically there is nothing illegal about selling something like this, but the absurd claims they make will only disappoint people who get tricked into paying up.
Luckily, most BitTorrent admins agree with this. The administrator of BTjunkie is the most active opponent perhaps, as he told us: “I don’t allow it on our site because it’s a scam. It’s like a bad infomercial for torrents.” He even went as far as complaining to Paypal and Adbrite to stop these people, so far without result. “I’ve had lots of backs and forths about this with Adbrite,” he said “They just keep telling me it’s not possible to permanently ban them unless you want to approve every ad that goes on your site.”
TorrentFreak contacted a few other admins, and they assured us that they will do everything they can to stop these ads from appearing on their sites. Pirate Bay’s Brokep told us: “We’re making sure they never comes back now, or I’ll tell Adbrite we need to kick them out.” We honestly hope that the others will follow this example, for now, this seems to be the only way to get rid of them.
The funny thing is, scammers are not only ripping off innocent BitTorrent users, they also rip each other off. Here is an email that the owners of fastspeedtorrents sent to a torrent site admin, pouring his heart out he wrote:
I own the site fastspeedtorrents.com. I’ve been trying to buy a flat rate ad on your site but it would always get declined. What happened was I bought the site highspeedtorrent.com and the person that sold me the site said that you were a main advertiser and to purchase flat rate ads. Well, something changed and I haven’t been able to buy an ad since I purchased the site. Then this person went and started a site called rocketspeedtorrent.com which is basically just a copy of a site that he sold me which he legally shouldn’t have done and now I see his ads on your site somehow.”
Poor guy…
Do you want those superfast downloads for free? Help yourself to some of our guides, hints and tips. There’s 20 more of the best right here.
All 100% free. Now that’s a guarantee.
Previously: RIAA Keeps Settlement Money, Artists May Sue
Next: BitTorrent Rip Off Sites, and How to Avoid Them
133 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 [5] 6 » Show All
[quote]Every one was a newb at one point, so lets not hate on them.[/quote]
Don’t you hate someone?
How do you hate on someone?
“They just keep telling me it’s not possible to permanently ban them unless you want to approve every ad that goes on your site.”
This sounds like site admins don’t control/know what ads are running on there sites.
I was already leery of clicking any ad on websites I vist.
More so now.
The hate towards noobs is so fucking hypocritical.
The haters should remember they didn’t know shit when they came out of that stinking garbage dumb called their mom’s womb.
Your little fetus ass was worthless, too bad that whore called mom didn’t abort you.
But, I’ll do my part and pray that all those assholes who were noobs at one time but hate noobs today get cancer.
Dear God, please finish the job and give these assholes colon cancer.
Please let them bleed and die a horrible fucking death.
Thank you God, Amen.
[quote comment="300596"]advert on your site whilst i was reading this article….
Download speed slow?
accelerate for torrents download Speed up 100% and protect HD.
http://www.soft4kids.com
how ironic…
Gallus[/quote]
lol… Their graph is kinda disappointing and pretty obviously bad. Anyway I’d rather use an exponential graph to decide my BT dl speed than a logarithmic graph. I hope not too many people fell for that.
[quote comment="301197"]
Number 1, they are in total denial that sharing copyrighted files is illegal.[/quote]
Three guesses as to the brain size of this hired cockwarmer.
Walnut? Pea? I’d wager it’s on the scale of a deer tick.
[quote comment="301655"][quote comment="301197"]
Number 1, they are in total denial that sharing copyrighted files is illegal.[/quote]
Three guesses as to the brain size of this hired cockwarmer.
Walnut? Pea? I’d wager it’s on the scale of a deer tick.[/quote]
[...] _before_ it’s eaten, no doubt. =]
[quote comment="301655"][quote comment="301197"]
Number 1, they are in total denial that sharing copyrighted files is illegal.[/quote]
Three guesses as to the brain size of this hired cockwarmer.
Walnut? Pea? I’d wager it’s on the scale of a deer tick.[/quote]
…and that _before_ it’s dined.
Dear consistent yet caring fans of Rapper Alliance,
It fills my body with absolute disgust (and freight) to have to write something like this to such a strong, large fan base as yourself. Now days it seems as if any person with 3 dollars and a can of green beans can act like me, and well, fact is, it hurts, it really hurts, it really hurts, it really hurts,,,,. So to make a long story short, (there are fakes out there ruining the true rhymes that can only come out of the true Rapper Alliance lips/keyboard!). I am hereby retiring. It was fun, TorrentFreaks.
Deeply caring,
but never sharing,
nigga bust my chops and he’ll be pairin’ with my mack 10 NIIGGGGGGAG NIGGGAGAA WHAT IMA BEAST
Rapper Alliance (The Real One, nigga)
[quote comment="300839"]Format your drive and install Linux, it’s free and you can choose from several bittorrent clients.
If you still use Windows you’re a fucking fool and deserve whatever rootkit you get. Windows is the biggest piece of shit ever.[/quote]
Rootkits appeared on Linux before they ever appeared on Windows.
It was 1996, to be precise.
I agree with Psi:
“Seriously anyone that believes that a bit of software can improve your hardware deserves it anyway.”
http://www.adverit.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cLdmeZm0ek
Sorry Norm,
There has never been any widespread or viruslike distribution of rootkits for Linux. As a concept, rootkits have existed for Unix since the end of the seventies and the principles could be also applied to Linux. But you have to have root access to install such a system, inserting a music CD or visiting a website is not enough. A hacker “might” be able to install a rootkit in a badly maintained system but that is something else.
In fact there have never been any widespread viruses, trojans, spyware or adware for Linux. Proof of concepts have existed but how could they be installed or spread? Should every Linux user with his particular dialect/version of Linux start to compile and install some suspicious code? I don’t think so.
BTW, is everybody under 15 here?
Hans, what you write isn’t correct. Just recently there was another major vulnerability in the Linux kernel allowing completely compromise of the system (like installation of a rootkit) which doesn’t require root access at all. What you are talking about is a concept. Unix is much safer and more secure by design than Windows which is really just broken by design. However implementation and design isn’t the same. The former have almost always bugs and Linux is no exception. The most stupid Windows users would not be better off without Linux because security and safety require that you act appropriately. As you write a hacker can break into a “badly maintained” system. The problem with Windows is not just that it’s Windows but that most of the installations are indeed badly maintained and most of its users couldn’t even tell what exactly they are supposed to maintain. If you dumb down Linux enough, it’ll attract the same stupid users. Running things as root if it doesn’t work or quits with “permission denied” is very common for new users. If you use your system as root, there’s no advantage over Windows at all. Even the safest car would get you and others killed if you are drunk. Computers are no different except that they rarely cause physical damage. Driving a car safely much easier than using a computer safely but the latter requires no license or training certificate whatsoever.
[quote comment="300912"]Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the Torrent community that largely supports the illegal/immoral downloading activities are complaining about a different illegal/immoral usage of their software?
So illegal/immoral activities are fine with BitTorrent so long as they aren’t annoying to the users? That’s the line we don’t cross? Everything else is fair game?
Either way, if someone wants to go illegally download the latest Coldplay album and is too much of a moron to figure out that they downloaded a trojan instead, I do not have much sympathy. Learn to use a computer.[/quote]
Bit torrent isn’t illegal or immoral. Bit Torrent has many legitimate uses that don’t involve copyright infringement, and many of us consider even some forms of piracy moral.
Say this gives me an idea: How about do an article about the RIAA’s internet brigades.
TF is clearly pro file sharing. So why do I always see comments accusing file sharers of stealing? If these people hate file sharing so much, why did they visit a site like this? It’s clearly labeled as a pro file sharing community.
It’s obvious that the RIAA or some anti piracy group is paying people to post these comments. Why not do some investigation. Can you trace their ips? Or somehow trace them through their email? That would make a great article!
“So why do I always see comments accusing file sharers of stealing?”
The industry thinks of their customers as scum. Scum with money though. Unfortunately for the industry, people are not as stupid as they would like them to be. Eventually all their propaganda and lies will backfire. I can assure you, many people who have never used file-sharing at all and spent a lot of money on DVDs and CDs are sick and tired of the industry and boycott them silently. Industrial commercialization of art was of course a mistake in the first place. It worked for some time and it would have worked much longer if the industry wasn’t so inhumane, greedy and full of themselves. If a parasite becomes too selfish, it’s just killing itself.
[quote comment="301495"][quote comment="301193"][quote comment="300656"][quote comment="300651"]People who fall for this shit are not noobs, they’re stupid. Two very different things.
If they loose a few bucks, they’ll learn their lesson and it won’t kill them. I think about ANY other issue related to P2P is more important than this one. And I read this freaking article about 20 million times on here already. If you have nothing to talk about, it’s ok to shut up. Especially if you’re going to wrap yourself in your preacher cloth and bitch about monetizing from torrents when half of the posts here are just padding BS (like this very post) to keep the revenue stream coming in.
Hypocrites…[/quote]
Wow get the fuck off the site then idiot, if you dont like it then leave, nobody is holding a gun to your head.[/quote]
Wow, “love it or leave it”. Great rebuttal, Rycon, did you construct that counter-arguement all by yourself?[/quote]
I guess I have to clarify this again to another person who hasn’t really turned on there brain. That wasn’t a ‘Love it or leave it’ counter-argument, he was complaining about the site, and at that point when your calling the site owners ‘hypocrites’ you need the get off the site.. because you obviously don’t agree on the sites content. He could of proved his point without attacking the owners for simply posting news. So please.. read the entire post and think about it before barking off another pointless response.[/quote]
Whether Wack was complaining about the site or the posts, an offhanded “get the fuck off the site” without any indication as to why is still a very poor response. You didn’t offer any sort of rationale for your venom until you were called on it. Your opinion, justified or not, is irrelevant when you can’t or don’t even explain why you feel that way.
So next time please…think, and come up with a coherent criticism, before barking off a totally meaningless response.
[quote comment="302391"]Say this gives me an idea: How about do an article about the RIAA’s internet brigades.
TF is clearly pro file sharing. So why do I always see comments accusing file sharers of stealing? If these people hate file sharing so much, why did they visit a site like this? It’s clearly labeled as a pro file sharing community.
It’s obvious that the RIAA or some anti piracy group is paying people to post these comments. Why not do some investigation. Can you trace their ips? Or somehow trace them through their email? That would make a great article![/quote]
Hahaha! How naive of you Norm to think that everyone on this, or any website, is in total agreement with the content. To think that the only reason someone would disagree with you is because “the RIAA or some anti piracy group is paying people” is delusional.
I envy you Norm. It must be quite an exciting existence to see conspiracies and plots around every corner. Get fired from your job? It’s not your fault, the RIAA planned your downfall. It sounds like the plot to a two bit Hollywood thriller. Why not go steal one and keep telling yourself that it’s not illegal. You may actually believe it someday.
(Opinion not paid for by the RIAA, CIA, Boy Scouts of America, or Amway)
[quote comment="301381"][quote comment="301199"]
Lol, tap water costs money. Bottled water costs money. Either way, you are paying for a product. You’ll find that in an Economics 1A book, page one.
Really, the arguement that “I’m not stealing nothing” is REALLY getting old, especially when it cannot be defended with even the barest shred of validity.[/quote]
Copying = Ctrl+C
Stealing = Ctrl+X
As for your first argument. Transferring data over my internet cable does costs money, as does storing it on my harddrive.
This is however irrelevant, as economics has nothing to do with being able to charge money for things. Neither does economics have nothing about getting payed or paying for anything you do.
Economics is simply about the matching up the demands of the seller and buyer resulting in a possible trade if both parties agree, and no trade if the parties don’t agree. In many caes, such trade is done without money ever getting involved.
In the case of file sharing, the buyer thinks that the seller is charging too much for the distribution and instead chooses to trade with someone who is willing to distribute for free, although often with a hidden agreement that he should distribute it to someone else in exchange.
More advanced protocols such as bittorrent splits the information into pieces making it easier for both parties to ensure that the other party forfills his hidden agreement by conducting a more or less fair exchange of information.
As information is cheap to replicate, this works out great for both parties in the transaction. Of course, the original distributor that wanted to charge a lot of money for doing the same thing isn’t too happy about it.
The biggest misunderstanding that people have about economics is that Market Value is the same as the Real Value. This is a complete misunderstanding. It is actually the opposite.
The further apart the market value and the real value is, the better. Just look at air. You would spend a large part of your salary on air if you had to, but fortunally the market value is low (as in free) because of the great supply. This is a huge economic boon for society as a whole.
When market value and real value is close, it is usually because of either high production costs, low supply or both. In either case, society will profit if production costs goes down or supply increases.
Yes, it is more expensive to create a piece of information in the first place. This is why a goverment instituted distribution monopoly exists, which is pretty much the opposite of a market. However, a large percentage of the population disagree with it as they see the huge efficency losses it causes and are willing to illegally bypass it. Of course they are saving money on it also (which is how they recognize the inefficencies). Filesharing is a far better trade.
And no, stealing isn’t a trade since there aren’t two parties that are in agreement.[/quote]
Blabbity blah blah blah. All those words and not a lick of any relevant sense.
Warner Brothers produces a movie. They spend, let’s say, $30 million to make it. To earn back their investment, they sell theater tickets and DVD copies of the movie.
And you really want to see this movie! But you decide that the $10 to $20 price tag to watch it is just too high. The studio has provided a perfectly legal and equitable way for you to watch it. But no, you decide that $15 to watch a movie legally is too great a price, so you break the law and illegally download an illegally distributed copy that originally came from some other schlub that actually bought the DVD and illegally copied it.
Taking your arguments to an extreme, it would be perfectly ok in your world for one person to buy the DVD, copy it, and distribute it to the entire world. The studio would receive a total of $20 for their $30 million production, but that’s ok, to you that’s fair.
No, what is fair is for you to just not watch the movie. You do without. You wait for it to hit channel 13 and sit through the commercials instead. That’s the honest way. Sad but true. Anything short of that is stealing. As far as your “willing to distribute for free” nonsense, of course he is! He stole it, didn’t pay a dime for it! And even if he did, it is illegal to distribute a copy of the movie, song, book, etc, regardless of what percentage of the society disagrees. Start a grass roots movement to get the laws changed. Fight city hall, as it were. But do not try to “prove” that downloading a copy of a movie is not illegal by shoehorning the idea into a superficial analogy made up of Econ babble. You make yourself look deluded and irrational.
You can look at air all you want (I got enough of the hot kind out of your whimsical farce), but you can’t change the fact that all of these “advanced protocol” transactions originate with stealing, a situation where two parties (studio and thief) are not in agreement, as you pointed out. This little tidbit that you talked around until the last nullifies your entire charade. All you have is ill-gotten supply and greedy dishonorable demand.
I wonder how this is possible. It must be affecting the right people if they fall for it.
it is quite ironic that you mention btjunkie and piratebay against that scam site.
both btjunkie and piratebay have run ads for that site for several months.
btjunkie had displayed the ads as text link on the index pages, and TPB had advertised that site on the right sidebar. i have seen the scam site being advertised on these two high profile BT sites for many months. and now, after making money promoting a scammer, they’re coming clean and washing their hands? i find it a little bit hypercritical
that guy who sold the original high spe’ed torr_ent site to the current owner, was a junkie. in fact, he sold some exotic drugs through one of his site allegrande ltd.
3 references to this post
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 [5] 6 » Show All
Add your response