Here’s something that looks like Skype, may or may not give you Skype but certainly wants something in return for it first.
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So far, so good I guess. It’s all in Russian of course, but it looks like it is actually installing Skype.
Then this happens.
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As you can see, it’s now asking for something – that something presumably being an SMS unlock code, which would likely cost money to obtain (in testing, the dropdown box wasn’t available – either because the required site content isn’t live at the moment or they’re not interested in my IP address). In case you’re wondering, the text in the greyed out box says (according to Google translate): “Loading Countries”. The other pieces of text say things like “Attention, the program requires activation” and “select your country of residence to receive instructions on how to activate”.
Thanks, but no thanks. Also here’s a 27/43 VirusTotal score.
The file above (SkypeSetup.exe) comes from a website that doesn’t appear to have any frontend to it – d2xx(dot)ru. There’s no fancy graphics, no text, nothing. Just the download. The Email address used to register the domain is used elsewhere, however – skype4free(dot)ru. This one has a little more going on:
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My handy Google Translator picked up the word “Free” quite a lot – “also, something about having to activate your copy”, not so much. You probably shouldn’t bother with any of the above when you can go here and obtain Skype for free, right now.
Christopher Boyd