Beware of bogus Gmail Hacker software

Hacking into someone’s mail account can be easy if the person chose an easily guessable password, but could be nigh impossible to brute force it if it’s long and complicated enough. Also, passwords can be forgotten or lost and the users stumped on how to gain access to their email accounts again.

Here is where tools such as the Gmail Hacker Pro could come in hand – if they actually worked. The tool and the website from which it can be downloaded look pretty legitimate, and the offer seems too good to refuse: the tool is supposedly free of charge for a limited time.

The software GUI is simple. It requires the user to enter the Gmail address whose password he wants to crack and just press the appropriate button.

According to The program supposedly does what it’s supposed to do, but then the following message pops up: “This application is locked in trial mode. To view recovered password you will need to obtain a Product Key to extend the functionalities of this software.”

As you can imagine, the Product Key must be bought and it’s price is $29.99. The user who chooses to do so is redirected to the (legitimate) ClickBank website where he can effect the payment via debit or credit card.

Unfortunately for him, even if he receives the Product Key, the software doesn’t work. I guess that losing $30 is a fitting punishment for anyone who has Gmail account cracking designs, but I would definitely feel sorry for those (hopefully few) Gmail users who aren’t aware that Google has set up a free procedure for resetting forgotten passwords.

Luckily for many users, 16 of the 43 AV solutions used by VirusTotal recognize this particular piece of software for what it is (i.e. nothing good) and stop their more naive customers from throwing away their hard-earned cash.

It’s also worth to note that once the software is downloaded and the installation procedure is started, a careful look at the end-user licensing agreement (EULA) reveals that if installed, the program will be collecting statistical data from the system on which it is installed and will install a search bar that will effect “changes and redirections of certain webpages.”

And that’s another thing that one should definitely not want – even though GFI researchers say that the search bar does not get installed in the end.

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