I'm a long-time cyberspace guy, going back to the old BBS days. And it hurts to admit that I got scammed. But then they added insult to injury.

I'd used Google to lookup Limewire and one of the top hits was something called Limewire 2007. I took a look at it and it offered unlimited downloads for $39.00 for three years. That was much better, I thought, than the .99 cents for every tune on iTunes, so I started signing up, entering my credit card and etc. But when I got to the checkout page a bunch of other programs had been added, including something called Defensza, and I got suspicous. I backed out of the page without authorizing the purchase. No matter, it got put through anyway.

But because I was suspicious I'd checked my bank account online and found the request sitting there but not yet approved. I called US Bank's incorrectly named "fraud" department and told them of the scam. They told me they couldn't do anything about it until they actually authorized it because it was on my debit card and not my Visa. (They can't STOP a fraud, just investigate it later) Go figure? The charge got approved the next day.

Curious now, and more than a little P.O.ed, I did a bunch of research and eventually found a tech support number for one of the scam programs that worked. (Most of the scammer numbers don't, on the rare occasion when there is a number listed). The voice on the other end was a woman with an Indian accent. I complained, using a phony name linked to a real email account, that I'd paid and didn't get my software. She checked her database, several times, once using the phony name and once using a credit card number which I made up on the spot (which means all of my information is kept and stored in a database). When she couldn't find it, with me playing dumber than I really am on the other end of the line, she offered me a special, good only for three days. All the software, including music, movies etc, that I could use for only $19.95. She gave me the URL of this miraculous program download site and when I surfed there, with her still on the phone, it took me to a special site, full of fake testimonials and lots of buttons to download all kinds of free software. The software that I would have paid $19 for was Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0. Every one of the "free" software programs were shareware and freeware programs.

I went immediately to my bank and got a new ATM/Credit card with a new number and destroyed the old one (what a hassle).

By the way, a lot of these phony sites are located, I found when I pursued the URLs, in Malta and in St Kitts, locations where the arm of the law is very short and lots of money laundering and stuff like that apparently goes on.

What these SOBs are doing is not technically illegal, however. If you read the fine print on the license agreements - and who does, really - you'll notice that they're offering techical support etc, not programs. Nothing illegal about offering dolts like me a free program for $20. I really feel like an idiot, or as Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon".