After FBI's strong campaign against illegal downloading that leads to the closing of famous torrent pages including Kickass Torrents, the emergence of numerous copies and "mirrors" of the original site had been abundant. The use of these sites, however, are dangerous since one of the KAT's mirrors, Kat.am, seems to be stealing users info including credit card numbers.
It's a Scam, Kat.am
A few weeks after the arrest of Kickass owner and the end of the website as well, KAT.am, a website that mirrors Kickass Torrents, now seems to have resurfaced. But not as you think, because the new site, which is supposedly a KAT clone, has been allegedly stealing personal data such as addresses and phone numbers, as well as bank and credit card information.
At first glance, Kat.am seems to be a fully functional mirror of Kickass Torrents. However, when one clicks to download a torrent file, it will immediately request information that is said to allow the user to obtain a free account.
During the process, the website will ask not only for the usual data like a user's email address and name. It will also need additional information such as credit card numbers. Legitimate torrent sites like the original Kickass Torrents never ask for credit card data or other additional information. Often, they will only include authentication process such as a captcha before proceeding with a download.
According to Hackread, a few weeks ago, Kat.am is a parked domain, which means no one owns it. This shows that scammers have picked the site immediately to take advantage of torrent users who happen upon the site. In any case, this type of scam is not anything new and people should just stay away from such sites.
Choose alternative sites carefully
On the other side of the coin, there are still alternative torrent sites that users can trust. Some sites are honest attempts from programmers who continue the fight for copyright and shared data. Thus, most torrent users have begun to flock to The Pirate Bay, which is stronger than ever and is currently proving that it is the undisputed leader in torrent downloading.
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