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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
Every single day, rightsholders and their representatives scour the web for references to pirated content, which aren't hard to find. These links are then reported to various online services, such as Google, requesting their operators to remove the allegedly infringing content. This system works well in theory but it's being abused by scam-artists as well.
One of the most recent scams we've seen targets various popular game piracy sites[...] The notices in question are seemingly sent by prominent names in the gaming industry, such as Steam and Ubisoft. However, the sudden flurry of takedown requests appears to be initiated by scammers instead.
[...] The end result of these fraudulent notices is that thousands of URLs have been wiped from Google's search results by what appear to be scammers. In some cases, Google has rejected the requests, but many have been honored.
What certainly doesn't help is that the allegations are not incorrect per se. Pirated games often circumvent DRM. However, the scammy notices are sent out for a different purpose.
Source: https://torrentfreak.com/scammers-hit-pirate-game-sites-with-irreversible-google-takedowns-181130/
(Score: 3, Informative) by Fluffeh on Wednesday December 12 2018, @01:15AM (1 child)
Here it is in four easy steps.
1) Create scammy site offering some semblance of product
2) Find legitimate sources of software similar to your product and then spam google etc to remove those sites from their listings.
3) Wait for your site to rise in rankings as other valid sites above you are vanished by your fake notices.
4) Profit - users are now installing your scammy software in lieu of the real thing as your site is at the top or near the top of the search results.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 12 2018, @02:55AM
2 doesn't sound right. TFS says they are pirate sites.