Fans of Harry Potter have been looking forward to the announcement of 'Pottermore', as well as being able to access the service. At present the service is in closed beta, with public access coming in October. The site, offering both eBooks and audiobook versions of the Harry Potter franchise, can currently only be accessed by those who complete the challenges posted upon it.
Now, some unscrupulous individuals online have chosen to exploit excited fans by offering 'invitations' to the service. Of course, Pottermore does not rely on an invitation system, though this has not stopped some fans from taking a chance with a so-called 'invite'. Techradar reports that security expert Chris Boyd, of GFI Labs, believes the accounts are not genuine or will simply link users to malware.
Something else that is important to note is that some of the scammers and con-artists may be abusing Google's search results in a process known as "search engine poisoning". Also known as "black hat SEO", these users are able to push their results higher and higher on the page via abuse of Google and other search engines. The websites themselves may contain malware, or will come as a phishing attempt, allowing users to "sign up" if they enter some of their personal information, such as their address or email address. This information can then be taken and harvested.
Despite all the negativity associated with these users, some people genuinely are selling legitimate accounts online. Unfortunately for those attempting to find a legitimate sale, the chances of finding an account are extremely slim. It is better to remain safe and wait for the October release in order to ensure safety - and to avoid any embarrassing wastes of money.
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