Illegal Serial number. 24 hours to comply

[willraffy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I recently downloaded a program from a torrent site to try out before I decided to buy it. I then tried to update the program from Axandra products and received the following warning on the webpage:

Buy now to prevent legal action!

Your information has been logged. The authorities in Pennsylvania are competent for your case.

Using illegal license keys is not a minor offence! It is a serious crime that affects real people and costs real jobs. We are serious about protecting our intellectual property!

You have committed a crime that, under the laws of the United States, can result in civil damages of up to $150,000 and/or criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

You can order a legal IBP license below. By doing so, you can avoid legal action. We strongly recommend that you get a legal license now (we'll check the validity of your license within the next 24 hours):
Edition
Price
IBP Standard5 starsInfo IBP Standard

* The Standard edition is for small business owners
who want to have a complete web site promotion
solution for their own websites.

* IBP Standard supports up to 5 projects/domains.

* Includes free program updates, free support and
Search Technology Updates™ for three months.

US$249.95
Proceed to the next step
IBP Business5 starsInfo IBP Business

* The Business edition is for web agencies and
businesses that need to manage more than
5 domains at a time.

* IBP Business supports an unlimited number
of projects/clients and it creates
customizable reports for your clients.

* Includes free program updates, free support and
Search Technology Updates™ for three months.

US$499.95
Proceed to the next step

If you don't have a valid license after 24 hours, we will inform the local authorities in Pennsylvania and Comcast Cable Communications Inc about the issue. Our lawyer in Mountville will take all necessary legal steps, and his fees will be added to our claims.

They have my IP# and ISP.
I am curious how serious I should take this message. I was using it for my own purposes and never intended to distribute it in any way.

[Zigner]

Legally, you aren't allowed to "try-before-you-buy".

I would NOT click on links that popped up. I would tend to believe that your computer has been infected by a virus, since you were actually foolish enough to download the program from a torrent site, and not from a reputable source.

Remove the program from your drive and purchase/install the REAL program.

[coolmaltese]

IBP/Axandra offers a free trial version on their official company website. It sounds like you downloaded the non-trial version with an already registered key and that generated the warning notice.

I also notice they offer a money back guarantee if the program does not live up to certain claims such as top page Google rankings. You could always sign up for the real copy and then take them up on the money back guarantee refund if it doesn't work out. If you do this make sure you follow the money back guarantee refund procedures exactly as often times companies make getting the refund difficult on purpose.

IMHO, I am skeptical of any companies such as this which guarantee search enging rankings (especially since Google's ranking formulas change often). I view these as potential scams.

Next time, don't use those torrent sites. That is just asking for trouble.