One of these too good to be true offers?

Factual Questions
1

I just got another spam msg. Mainly I delete them, but this is one I looked at. They are offering:
Microsoft Office 2000 PREMIUM, including
WORD ACCESS
EXCEL OUTLOOK
POWERPOINT FRONTPAGE
PUBLISHER PHOTODRAW
ALSO included in this amazing software offer
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR 9.0
ADOBE PAGEMAKER 6.52
ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0
ADOBE GO LIVE 5.0
ADOBE INDESIGN 1.5
ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0
ADOBE FRAME MAKER 6.0

all for $49.95
here is the web address
http://www.fosdirect.com/order.html

they don’t seem to have any web page other then the order page. Is this a scam? are they going to take my money and close up shop? Are they going to provide me w/ pirated CD’s? Are they going to charge me $500 for shipping and handleing?

This looks too good to be true but somtimes weird things happen - maybe there was a cheep release of these or some liquidation.

2

It has always been my experience that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn’t send any more money than you can afford to lose.

3

Read this article:

http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svtop/bootlg052601.htm

And then tell me if you want to purchase these CDs.

4

Right, they do. But they never seem benefit the customer, in my experience.

Be safe, avoid the possible aggravation this deal might bring.

5

O great, I can get all that software for only $50 and put it right next to all those CD’s I created through Napster.

If you can’t tell I’m being sarcastic (and taking a cheap shot at Napster. I really think this must be a scam of some sort - Now I’m leaning towards piracy. Whatever - email meet the deleted items box.

6

I went to the site and entered a dummy order and got a message thet the security certificate they are using does not match the name of the site. Sounds pretty fishy to me. Might just be a way to harvest credit card numbers. I would report this if I knew how.

7

A web search on “fosdirect” turned up nothing. I did a Google groups search, and I found that two people have posted this e-mail on newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.sightings.

8

I will not, as a rule, buy ANYTHING advertised through spam or unrequested E-mail.

I don’t care HOW tempting it is, I will not buy from them, I will very likely never buy the same item if marketed legally, and I will NOT visit their website or send a “remove” message.

Just delete it, and go on about your day.

9

The unmatched certificate usually just means that they are directing you to an SSL (https://), which is secure, but they haven’t installed a cert themselves from Thawte or someone. In other words, the page will use the server’s own cert.

10

Looks highly fishy:

1.) Site says it’s a ‘secure server.’ It’s not. They even try to hide it by directing you to a toolbar-less window from the main page so you can’t see the missing lock to see that it’s secure.

2.) Fake trust-e symbol links to nothing. Usually it links to a varification page.

I would highly recommend not entering any personal information whatsoever in that site, let alone your CC info.

11

Its easier to just pirate the software you want for free. Why pay someone to do it? (not that I endorse piracy)