Swift Dog software problem

[Chaggy78]

Hi Guys!

I recently installed swift dog netscream and something went wrong when registering serial and i got the following message on my screen:

Notice of Illegal Software Piracy and Copyright Infringement
Please read important legal information below...

Software Name: NetScream

Date/Time: 2009-05-15 05:11:12 CST (GMT -06:00)
IP Address: 80.*******************

Illegal Serial: 1*********

* YOU WILL BE REPORTED TO YOUR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. THIS ILLEGAL SOFTWARE USAGE WILL ALSO BE INVESTIGATED FOR POTENTIAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND CIVIL LAWSUITS AGAINST YOU. INTENTIONAL CRIMINAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND IS PUNISHABLE WITH A FINE OF UP TO $250,000 USD AND/OR IMPRISONMENT. *

This computer program (NetScream) is protected by copyright law and international treaties. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program, or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal penalties, and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.

This computer program (NetScream) which has been installed and used on the computer with the IP address: 80.************** is in violation of the software terms of agreement (sections: 3, 7 and 8) , as well as being in violation of international copyright law. This computer was logged over the internet with this computer program being accessed and used illegally. The information in this notice has been transmitted over the internet to the company SWIFTDOG for immediate investigation into copyright infringement/software piracy claim(s) against you. Information including your IP ADDRESS, ISP INFORMATION and SERIAL NUMBER entered have been obtained for potential charges against you.

An individual with direct access to the computer with the IP address: 80. ************* has installed this copyright protected computer program (NetScream) and has intentionally entered an illegally obtained serial number, and/or has applied a software patch to circumvent the protection mechanism(s) of this computer program to gain unrestricted access to the computer program. The illegal serial number entered and date/time of this incident is noted above.

Copies of this information have been transmitted over the internet to the company SWIFTDOG in regards to this matter; in order to protect our intellectual property rights as well as to open a case to investigate this matter and potentially bring charges against you. Removal of this computer program does not limit our legal rights or claims. All copyright violations are investigated with the data we have obtained.


Obtain a Serial Number and Legal License
Purchase or receive a free serial number and license for the software immediately to make yourself legal and avoid illegal software usage.


Is this for real? am I in trouble? or is it just a scam?
I am really worried that I moght be in trouble can anyone please help?
Thanks so much.

 

[Chaggy78]

Anybody out there? Is this for real or not? I would appreciate some feedback please. I have searched online about this and there are a few people with same problem but not sure if it's for real or some kind of virus?

 

[bobcat]

To start with, I see a couple of issues that require clarification.

Firstly, you don’t say how or where you obtained the serial. Without insinuating anything specific against you, since you are new here, I inform you that this board does not deal with piracy, warez or otherwise illegally obtained software and/or keys. I would advise you to read the Rules. And while you are at it, also have a look at the requirement for avoiding double posts.

Secondly, you don’t mention why you didn’t contact the software supplier with some valid explanation, which may lead one to suspect that such valid explanation is lacking. But this is a suspicion, not an accusation.

As regards the legal notice you received, you should be in position to know whether it has a sound basis. Otherwise, if you obtained the key from some kind of board or blog, and I won’t say what kind, they are the ones to contact, in case they have previous experience with such notices.

I can only express the strictly personal opinion that in the case the key is blacklisted, the matter could be serious. Always in my opinion, if it were a scam they would have asked for money straight away without giving you much time to think about it. Scams usually also contain many grammatical errors, which this notice doesn’t. Finally, it ends by advising you to obtain a Legal License, which again wouldn’t profit the scammer. I therefore consider it more likely that it is genuine.

If it is genuine, there is a chance, if you are lucky, that it’s merely intended to scare you into buying a Legal License.

If it’s not just intended to scare you, they’ll come back with more concrete demands. You should then consult a lawyer.

 

[Chaggy78]

Hi thanks for reply, Firstly no i got the key from a friend who had purchased the original program and he said he no longer uses the program so he installed on my machine. Obviously the key was no longer valid and that is when the mentioned noticed popped up.
After 'googling' to try to find out more there have been people posting about this on here in the past and they have been told not to worry about it as the company 'Swift Dog' seemed a bit dodgy and may not be for real so that is why i wanted to check if anybody else has had similar issues.
Also sorry for double posting! Complete newbie here! Thanks

 

[Chaggy78]

Sorry to double post but just wanted to let you know that i have sorted out this issue with Swiftdog, purchased a new licence so all should be fine.
Thanks to those who have helped me.