Kim Dotcom’s Mega launched this past weekend amongst a ton of publicity, passing 1 million users after just one day. Naturally, this means many want to take advantage of the service’s popularity or cut it down to size: scammers are already taking advantage while the hacktivist group Anonymous has called for a boycott.
Spam and Scam
Criminals are trying to leverage all the hype by promising a “hack” that allows users to “search and download files from mega.co.nz for free.” This is of course not possible given how the service is built, but the enticing claim nevertheless comes in via a YouTube video, according to security firm GFI:
Here’s the message that attempts to sucker you in:
We have found a way to search and download files from the new MEGA website and its (sic) for free. Click the link below and a dialog box will appear for you to search and download files.
To get the supposed “hack,” victims are urged to click on an Adlf.ly shortened link, which kicks off a chain of ad sites all linking to each other (whether you click on more links or not, you’ll still be taken to an Adf.ly page).
The criminals make money each time a user is redirected, thanks to the slew of ads on each page:
Anybody caught up in this digital hall of mirrors will likely spend a long time looking at loading screens and buttons asking them to “Skip Ad” a lot. What they absolutely will not achieve is any sort of joy whatsoever where searching for uploaded files is concerned. The only person to benefit here is the one potentially making money from the daisy chain of clicked Adf.ly links via the spamblog.
Our advice here is simple: don’t go out looking for a Mega “hack” and clicking random links that promise one.
Anonymous
Anonymous last night turned their back on Mega, calling Kim Dotcom a snitch. This might seem odd to those who remember that the group viciously protested when US authorities took down Megaupload, including launching Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and others.
Yet here’s the Anonymous message this week, coming from YourAnonNews, the group’s most popular Twitter account with over 854,000 followers:
Why is @kimdotcom free while other file sharing pioneers still rot in jail? BECAUSE HE SNITCHED: bit.ly/VlBxCi bit.ly/VlBshW
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) January 22, 2013
We seriously regret helping @kimdotcom with PR for #MEGA.We were not aware he was a fucking snitch rat.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) January 22, 2013
In solidarity with NinjaVideo pirates rotting in jail after @kimdotcom snitched them out to DHS, we call for a boycott of all #MEGA services
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) January 22, 2013
Those are just three select tweets that show Anonymous has suddenly discovered Dotcom helped US authorities bring down other file sharing sites, including NinjaVideo. The issue was apparently brought to the group’s attention by Twitter user subverzo, who put together a Pastebin post attacking Dotcom. Here’s the conclusion:
The difference between Sabu and Kim Dotcom’s snitching? Not only did Kim Dotcom have a choice to not engage in snitch behavior, instead of looking out for his customers and integrity of Megaupload and challenge the government’s requests to retain the data by making a public spectacle out of the DHS’s request, he went along with their requests to keep the warrants secret, legitimizing their culture of secrecy. In the process of cooperation, he not only set up his customers for criminal prosecution, his bumbling behavior set himself up for the same. Ask yourself if this is a person you would want to do business with.
All of this hinges on a Wired report from November, which you can read here.
See also – Face to face with Kim Dotcom as he launches Mega, talks about Megakey and the future of free content and Say hello to the new Mega: We go hands on.
Image credit: flippnjj
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