OEM software

Send 'em all the money you want, but don't expect to get anything for it, other than maybe a lesson in gullibility.

Slow boat delivery
Got a couple email solicitations for OEM software... it would take 4-6 weeks to get the cd. So I checked the web address registration... the website was created just a few weeks ago and is located in Russia.

Hmmm... seems I could have a problem getting my money back if it didn't work out. No offense to Russia, but it's a long way away from Hockley.

Where the heck did they get my email address?

No offence to Russia either, but a lot of computer fraud does come from that part of the world.

Why would it be cheaper to buy software that's made in the US from another country unless it was bootleg? Unless you are downloading it you're looking at shipping expenses to and from Russia.

Unless they made some agreement with the manufacturer to sell them software at extremely low bulk prices so they could afford to sell it back to the US at prices that are lower than what you could get it for from a US company.

It's possible, but not likely. Personally, I 'm a little weary about dealing with foreign companies for exactly the reasons you specified. It would be a little hard to get your money back. You don't have the level of consumer protection that you get when you buy within your own country. Let the importers deal with those headaches and then buy from the importers. But then again, we're talking about a domestic product that has been exported, and then imported back to the US at a cheaper price? Doesn't sound likely.

The beauty of software distribution is that you can eliminate shipping, you just transfer it electronically. Maybe they produced the documentation and packaging in Russia, but I doubt it.

The only kind of software that I would be comfertable buying from a forign country would be shareware. It would have to be something that I'm currently using and I'd just be buying a license.

The OEM software scam has been around a long, long time. In point of fact, software manufacturers do offer hefty bulk discounts to firms like computer manufacturers, and some of that does quasi-legitimately find its way onto the market. An example might be that if you buy a motherboard or a processor, you may be able to buy a steeply discounted operating system or security application along with it at the time of purchase, but that's about the only legitimate way to come across "surplus" OEM software. If you were to send them money, if you got anything at all in return, it most likely would be pirated. Odds are, however, you wouldn't even get that much. These clowns open a website, use "dictionary" (randomly generated character strings) or purchased-list enail@domain addressing to tens-of-thousands of email addresses, and disappear before the authorities, if even interested, are so much as aware of their presence.

Just remember; if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.

dont do it
Isak

I work for the biggest credit card company in the US and I can tell you that I get a ton of calls about software purchase from overseas - especially Russia. If your lucky it doesn't come at all in which case you get your money back (only if you use a credit card) but if it does come and its fake chances are you might not depending on the wording of the advertisement. My advice after seeing these daily for 2.5 years is dont do it. You will more than likely be ripped off.