Counterfeit and pirated software is a bane online auction. And although authorities are trying to fight this phenomenon, still to this type of services there are goods which due to their dubious origin found there should not be. As criminals hiding from detection? A story from this summer, most likely you zmierzi.
To probably one of the most heinous scandals associated with counterfeit software. Thus, which then sold illegally on the Internet auctions in a “particularly bargain prices,” including in Poland. Three residents of the United States led to multi-million dollar losses using the … charity.
The conspiracy was international, and three criminals worked with so far unknown to the citizens of China. As a result of this cooperation group illegally enriched themselves with millions of dollars from the sale of unlicensed software by Adobe and Microsoft. Its clients send only the activation keys programs from digital distribution, using the charity, which gave them considerable wealth. During the raid on criminals secured valuables, real estate and luxury cars worth a total of $ 18,000,000. All in all, clean, they earned according to estimates by $ 30 million.
How did we fall on their trail?
The activities of criminals discovered the blunder of one of them . Federal Service of the United States were able to determine that one of them bought from “Chinese sources” and sold at a profit tens of thousands of illegal and counterfeit activation keys sheets-scratch with these keys for Microsoft software. Some of the cards with the codes for the untrained eye were indistinguishable from those sold by Microsoft.
Activation codes were sold exclusively through auction sites, both those operating internationally and local. Margins on these codes is set at a very high, so as not to exaggerate differ from established market prices. How high? It is worth mentioning that the total amount of transfers to China for the purchase of counterfeit criminals license are suddenly less than 700 thousand. dollars.
“We help people …”
The organization of criminals to facilitate their activities, functioned as a charity. Many of the licenses offered by it went to charity auctions, from which the profits were aimed at supporting the construction of new hospitals in Africa or the poor citizens of one of the states of the USA. As you might imagine, much of the money actually went to the needy – suddenly 866 thousand. dollars.
Microsoft and Adobe, whose software discussed here forged criminal organization, attempted a collective effort to end its activities for five years. But it was only this year managed to collect an adequate number of evidence. And since two powerful corporations have a problem with the individual case, this gives a picture of the scale of the problem on a global basis. Cybercriminals are using innocent-looking online auctions deceive not only software developers and their customers, but they can even hide under the banner of charities, in order to avoid responsibility. Organizations that actually provide little good.
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