14 DAY TRIAL // A lot of fake online software shops have been discovered as being exact replicas of known and trusted websites. Their creators made them this way to increase the chances of someone making a purchase that will earn them a hefty profit.
The Groupon page was among the first discovered by Zscaler researchers and from the printscreens they've provided we can conclude that the resemblance is truly astonishing. [admark=1]The replica domain is axisoftware.com so I've taken a quick look to see what the deal is.
The main layout and the color scheme are a perfect match, the only differences being in the text and the coding which on the rogue site is clearly made in a hurry.
So what's the thing that attracts unsuspecting victims?
Because the internet page is an exact replica, a visitor who stumbles upon it will tend to trust that it's real, however there are some little things that might give away the fact that it's not.
Of course, most discount websites offer significant discounts but the fake ones usually tend to exaggerate in the effort of luring as many as possible. For instance, a disk containing the Apple iWork '09 costs a mere $30(€21), while on Amazon we can find the same product for $80(€56). A discount that's larger than 50% should tip you off that something's fishy.
Companies might advertise their products by selling a few at a lower price, but it's very unlikely that Autodesk will sell you a copy of their new AutoCAD 2012 for $86(€60) when the regular commercial price is close to $900(€630).
Then again, the number of discounts promoted of scam online stores is always large. You might have noticed that real deal shops only advertise a few lowered prices at a time, while the malicious ones list a few hundreds.
Finally, when you notice that the website redirects you a lot, especially when it comes to making payments, that should be a clear signal that someone is trying to make a run for it with your savings.