It seems people will try to sell you anything these days. Let’s take a look at new-voip-online-access(dot)com, which is also reachable from skype-upgrade(dot)com.
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The site really wants you to try out Skype – along with the various “Download Now” buttons, there are links saying “Upgrade now” and “Get instant access to Skype add ons”. All of these links take you to what they claim is a Skype (or Skype related) download.
This is where it all goes horribly wrong.
Skype is free to download. You don’t need to go through third parties or sign up to spam, and you certainly don’t need to pay to download the program.
Here?
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The end-user is informed of the many benefits of Skype in banners down the side, while being asked to fill in contact information above a preticked “coupons, offers and promotions” box. Moving on to the next step will only serve to trigger the “Danger, Will Robinson” alarms:
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You have to pay a membership fee to access whatever wonderful bit of VoIP related goodness the site owner is willing to dish out. I’m willing to bet the “2 day promo” at the side will never actually expire, and I can’t help but notice there’s an additional checkbox ticked which gives you “the award winning audio recorder for only £7.95” alongside the membership fee.
Or you could just Google it and get a program for nothing. In fact, grab Skype for nothing too and avoid being charged anything by this website. Their disclaimer reads:
“Membership is for unlimited access to our site’s resources. We provide an organized website with links to third party freeware and shareware software, technical support, tutorials and step by step guides.”
I’m going to go one better than that. Download Skype right here, for free, with no spam required and no “award winning audio recorder” to pay for either. Don’t get caught out by sites asking for cash in return for what should be free downloads.
Christopher Boyd