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We don’t know for sure whether any of these scam apps netted their developers some bonus money from Microsoft. Microsoft’s promotion encouraged developers to do the minimum amount of possible work and create a bunch of bad apps. if you’re a developer who could pump out twenty terrible apps in a few weeks, you’d get $2000. So, if you’re a developer who spent months creating an amazing app, you only got $100. Microsoft has scrubbed the official pages about this from their MSDN website. Here’s the page from describing the “Keep The Cash” promotion.
#MICROSOFT OFFICE FOR MAC FREE DOWNLOAD SCAM WINDOWS#
In March, 2013, Microsoft ran a promotion where they paid developers $100 for each app they submitted to the Windows Store or Windows Phone Store. Microsoft hasn’t been encouraging quality apps. Microsoft Paid For Quantity - They Just Want a Big Store Windows desktop users shouldn’t have this junk shoved in their faces.
No one needs a Windows Store app that will charge for Firefox tutorials when tutorials are available all over the web for free.
#MICROSOFT OFFICE FOR MAC FREE DOWNLOAD SCAM INSTALL#
For example, whenever I use the system search feature to launch Firefox, I see a link to install “Firefox Training Lite” from the Windows Store. Search for an application using the Start screen search or search charm and these garbage apps from the Windows Store will appear. Worse yet, the Windows Store is now integrated with the system search feature. To further prove that something is deeply wrong, one of the many publishers of these scam applications just calls themselves “Google Chrome,” and they make a dozen fake applications. We found many similar comments from people that had been tricked into paying for and downloading a fake application. We don’t blame you, David, and hopefully you get your refund! For instance, David in the next screenshot thought he was buying the Bluestacks player, only to find out it was a scam, and he wants a refund. Within half an hour we managed to find fake paid versions of Adobe Flash Player, Firefox, Pandora, IMDB, Candy Crush Saga, Wechat, WhatsApp, uTorrent, Picasa, Bluestacks, Minecraft, Spotify, Google Hangouts, Picasa, Clash of Clans, Blender 3D, and a lot more.īecause they are using the real name and logo for each of these scams, and only the fine print on some of these scam apps will let you know that you aren’t downloading the real thing… a lot of people have mistakenly paid for them. While doing fact-checking to verify this article, we’ve discovered the problem is even deeper than we had initially imagined.
#MICROSOFT OFFICE FOR MAC FREE DOWNLOAD SCAM HOW TO#
Here’s how to really download iTunes - plug “iTunes” into Google or just head to Apple’s website. All that comes up are fake apps pretending to be the real thing.įor iTunes, there’s even an $8.99 app that “helps user to know how to use and download iTunes.” These apps are clearly using Apple’s official iTunes graphics without permission, and some of them have screenshots of the iTunes desktop application on their app page. It’s even worse than VLC when these applications don’t have official apps in the Store. Search for another popular application - like iTunes or Firefox - and you’ll see similar useless garbage applications. It’s what pops up on the first page when we search for a popular app. We aren’t digging deep into the Store looking for this stuff. Its description says, “this app helps the users to know how to download install and why it is.” If that’s too expensive for you, you can also get “Download Vlc Player” for $1.99 or “download vlc media player” for $1.29. Included in the list is “VLC Player Download” for $4.99. Hopefully they’ll link you to the real one and not one filled with malware! In addition to various apps pretending to be VLC itself, there are paid apps offering a “VLC download.” These apps exist to trick you into buying them - after you do, they give you a link to download the free VLC application. Luckily, VLC actually offers an official app for Windows 8, so “VLC for Windows 8” is the first app in the list. There aren’t - many apps are just copying VLC’s trademark icon to make themselves look legitimate.
From the screenshot above, you’d be forgiven for thinking there are a lot of official VLC apps.