------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 12:39:12 CST From: frank232@TAMPA.RELAY.UCM.ORG Subject: File 7--Entrapment Scam? re:Software Evaluation Survey - Entrapment Fraud? I've voluntarily enrolled with a company based in England, which says it's purpose is to recruit shareware evaluators for various shareware software developers. Since processing the enrollment program, I've come to wonder if this could possibly be just an entrapment scam to try and catch users of nonregistered software. I first heard of this offer on a FIDONET announcement. The sender was looking for software evaluators, who would be offered free software in exchange for their evaluations. It sounded like it might be all right, so I e-mailed my name and a private postal box I have. Within about a month, I got a diskette and a cover letter, a copy of which I'll include below. The company is called Scancom. When you process the registration program, called an Electronic Response Card, you are asked to key in your name, address, and phone number, and to provide some info about your PC, as well as an indication of what kinds of software you have. If you choose, you can take the option to have the program scan your hard drive, and it will record software you have. You can de-select some or all of it before registering. I didn't take the option to scan my hard disk. I'm a freelance writer and evaluate a lot of shareware. I wouldn't want shareware authors to think I'm stealing their products. At the end of the program, you have a screen with several numbers generated by the program, allegedly representing your name, address and phone number. You can complete registration by modem (I couldn't get that to work) or by calling a toll free 800 number. You key in responses to a series of recorded queries, and finally get a serial number. Keying that in gives you access to 5 "free" programs. The programs are shareware. Three were games, one was an older version of McAffee's SCAN; I forget the fifth. A windows game, I think. The cover letter also invites you to e-mail one of their reps, on Compuserve. I went ahead and sent in a little note to the address given. I remember in the past couple of years something similar. The program ended up actually being a way to spot unregistered software, and the results were given to the manufacturer's legal department, to press legal action. I think Microsoft may have been involved. Anyway, I was wondering if another entrapment scam was involved here. Maybe you could put this out as a query on CUD, and see what anyone knows. Here is the letter. I may upload this to some local bulletin boards, so added some info for those on FIDONET. o / o / o / o / -----Cut-here----X-----Snip------X---Cut-here----X-----Snip------X---Ouch ! o \ o \ o \ o \ SCANCOM Scancom Distribution P O Box 175 Guildford Surry GU1 1UL UK Telephone: +44 483 450949 FAX: +44 483 452631 **************************************************************************** This section added by me (Please note that this is an international call. You might prefer to write, or try e-mail instructions given below) **************************************************************************** PC USER SURVEY Thank you for participating in the survey. In these files you will find a copy of the Electronic Response Card (ERC) and a file with 5 different high quality shareware/software titles. As you probably know, shareware often requires a payment to the author if you continue to use it after a certain period of time. We will do our est to find the right software and shareware for you, including titles which do not require any payment even if you continue to use them, but we encourage you always to review the license agreement for each separate product. In future surveys you will be able to send the results back to us via CompuServe, but this very first time I encourage you to call the 800 number given in the ERC program and try the touch tone relay as we need to know how acceptable this method is for users without modems. Be sure to key in your name and address, and let us know what you think about the system. I would appreciate comments directly to me on CompuServe (user ID 76116,2214). Also, I would appreciate if you could let me know about as many applications you use as possible (legal only please) and a maximum of 2 categories or types of software which you would prefer to receive with future surveys (such as games, business, Windows, etc.). The survey program automatically scans for many popular applications which you can deselect if you do not wish to include them in the survey. Please also let me know if you do not wish your name and address to be passed on to any third parties, but be aware that this may restrict what future software we can send to you, as some vendors will want to know to whom they contribute free software for direct marketing and research purposes. If you know of other users who might be interested in participating, please pass along this archive. ************************************************************************* This section added by me The ERC program will want to be run from a floppy drive. So, dearchive these files onto a floppy, then place into drive A: or B:. Type START and hit [ENTER]. Now follow the instructions on the screen to install and run the survey. ************************************************************************* Call, fax, e-mail or write if you have any problems. Thank you for your participation. Mads K. Larsen Scancom Distribution Partners: R E Braithwaite, S C Grundy **************************************************************************** This added by me P.S. If you are not on CompuServe, but have access to Internet or FIDONET e-mail, here are the ways to send e-mail to me on Compuserve: Internet: send to - 76116.2214@compuserve.com FIDONET: in the TO portion, use UUCP. In the body of the message, use these as the first two lines: @>1:103/208 to: 76116.2214@compuserve.com Some fidonet hosts will want you to use (1:103/208), instead, for the first line. The parenthesis must be included. If both of these reject, check with your fidonet host sysop. In order to receive e-mail back, use this format for your address: If your FIDONET address is 1:123/456, I should be able to reach you with this address: your.name%p0.f456.n123.z1.fidonet.org@ofa123.fidonet.org If all of this fails, then sending a letter by post will be your only alternative. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + END THIS FILE + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=