It's been over 2 years now since I first wrote about inKline Global's deceptive sales techniques. Since then, that post has received dozens of comments from people who feel they have been scammed by the company, who sold them crappy products that don't do what they advertise.
Last week, a rep from the company stopped by bmonday.com to defend their refund process, but declined to address the deceptive techniques they continue to use to trick people into buying the products they sell. Apparently, they're OK with that part of their business model.
Take this popup ad for instance, which was the inspiration for my past rants on this topic, and is still being served up on inKline's servers:
Look at helpful inKline, telling us about a new “security update”. Problem is, the update number they reference, which looks suspiciously like a Microsoft KB article number that you might see on an actual security patch, doesn't exist. Another problem is that the page determines what today's date is, and displays the current month and year to give the impression that this “update” is new. Next they claim the update is for Windows XP, which is another bit of information that their page determines about your computer when you hit the page. If I was running Windows ME, it would have said “Security Update for Windows ME“.
4 deceptions in 7 words. That's gotta be a record.
The smoke and mirrors doesn't stop there. Anyone familiar with Microsoft security patches recognize that just about every one of them starts off with this familiar phrase: “A security issue has been identified that could allow an attacker to...” Just like the above deceptive ad. They even used Microsoft colors and layout to enhance the deception.
The Continue button, and every other link on the page, takes you to a followup page on their site that proceeds to run “tests“ on your computer, giving predictable failing grades throughout and offering to protect you from hackers for a mere $39.95.
It's 21st Century snake oil.
If there is anyone I despise more than cybercriminals, it's got to be people like inKline who use fear and half-truths to scare unwitting victims into buying their products.