So I just came across (via Ars Technica)
www.powertogether.com.
The site claims to give away free copies of Vista Business and Office Professional to anyone completing a number of webcasts and virtual labs.
This would be great, but there are aspects that bring the legitimacy of this offer into question: They want a social security number (for tax reasons) from anyone recieving both products. And, via whois:
Domain Name.......... powertogether.com
Admin Name........... Philip Colebrook
Admin Address........ Flat 13, Inner City House
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ London
Admin Address........ SE14 6QP
Admin Address........ -
Admin Address........ GREAT BRITAIN (UK)
Admin Email.......... pcolebrook@gmail.com
I believe that speaks for itself. The site goes through Microsoft's nameservers, but the domain is not owned by Microsoft and the server's IP (66.150.160.24) is not in a
block owned by Microsoft. The site uses the Passport service for login (with an appropriately branded page on login.live.com), so I suppose that is comforting, but I'm still wary.
Can someone from Microsoft give me (and anyone else before they get eaten by this) some info as to the site's legitimacy? I plan to go through the office labs and probably the Vista labs too, but I don't want to fall for an elaborate phishing scam!
-
CannotResolveSymbol
Microsoft: Who do you want to execute today?
-
blowdart
Peek-a-boo
Why would a UK site need a US social security number? It's very rare to see MS sites hosted in the UK.
Nor is that area of London anywhere MS has offices. It's a crappy little place in South London.
Big scam methinks.
-
From Windows-now.com (formerly kown as Longhornblogs)
" For anyone that doesn't think it's real, a Microsoft Technical Evangelist (read: employee) sent me an e-mail about it. MSDN did something very similar a while back with their MSDN webcasts series. It's legit. I promise." -
Tom Servo
W-hat?
I have some free time, I won't say no.
--edit: ...if the site wouldn't crap out.
--edit2: ...US only. Grrrrrrrreat. -
blowdart
Peek-a-boo
Tom Servo wrote:I have some free time, I won't say no.
--edit: ...if the site wouldn't crap out.
--edit2: ...US only. Grrrrrrrreat.
if it's US only why is a UK employee doing it? This really smells/
-
Jack Poison
At what price, Freedom?
That server really is awful.. I tried registering for it, to no avail. I get, "sorry, a System Error occurred."
-
CannotResolveSymbol
Microsoft: Who do you want to execute today?
blowdart wrote:
Tom Servo wrote: I have some free time, I won't say no.
--edit: ...if the site wouldn't crap out.
--edit2: ...US only. Grrrrrrrreat.
if it's US only why is a UK employee doing it? This really smells/
I know it does... I trust Robert McLaws saying that it is indeed legit... but I would still feel better if I heard something else or saw it linked from another Microsoft property (like MSDN). -
blowdart
Peek-a-boo
CannotResolveSymbol wrote:
blowdart wrote: Tom Servo wrote: I have some free time, I won't say no.
--edit: ...if the site wouldn't crap out.
--edit2: ...US only. Grrrrrrrreat.
if it's US only why is a UK employee doing it? This really smells/
I know it does... I trust Robert McLaws saying that it is indeed legit... but I would still feel better if I heard something else or saw it linked from another Microsoft property (like MSDN).
*shrug* It's not like MS employees haven't been fooled before. A UK registration? Not hosted on MS servers? Or registered to them, using their registrar and domain servers? Crashes? The necessity of an SSN? No link to microsoft.com's privacy policy?
Well if you're desperate enough, sure, go ahead, hand over your details.
-
Jack Poison
At what price, Freedom?
I made it through the first part of the registration, and it didn't ask for an SSN.
It did say I'd have to fill out a tax form before the Second gift would be sent (meaning, if I opted for both the Vista and Office disks).
-
CannotResolveSymbol
Microsoft: Who do you want to execute today?
Jack Poison wrote:I made it through the first part of the registration, and it didn't ask for an SSN.
It did say I'd have to fill out a tax form before the Second gift would be sent (meaning, if I opted for both the Vista and Office disks).
And the way the FAQ reads, you fill out their tax form online from a link in an email they sent you. This particular tax form requires a signature, how does that work?
Has anyone here from Microsoft heard anything about this?
-
PaoloM
Hypermediocrity
Haven't heard nothing here (but that's not surprising
), however I remember distinctly getting copies and copies of free software from Microsoft years ago without ever having to enter any tax information whatsoever.
It may be that's a new thing, but... -
blowdart
Peek-a-boo
PaoloM wrote:
It may be that's a new thing, but...
Well is Philip Colebrook in the Exchange address book? -
PaoloM
Hypermediocrity
That is not really interesting, as we often outsource promotions and surveys to other companies...
(but no, he's not in the GAL) -
Harlequin
http://twitter.com/TrueHarlequin
But you shouldn't have to hand out your SSN (or SIN in Canada) to anyone.....anywhere.....ever.
Even when applying for a job you shouldn't have to, only when they hire you should you hand it to them. -
blowdart
Peek-a-boo
PaoloM wrote:That is not really interesting, as we often outsource promotions and surveys to other companies...
(but no, he's not in the GAL)
Any way you can ask around? I find it interesting they use their own privacy policy and not the normal Microsoft one.
-
Mark Brown
Microsoft Web Platform
This is mine folks. See the other thread on this where I added some details on what this is and why it is US only.
-
CannotResolveSymbol
Microsoft: Who do you want to execute today?
Mark Brown wrote:This is mine folks. See the other thread on this where I added some details on what this is and why it is US only.
Thanks for clearing that up for me!
I'm sure you'll understand that in this day and age it's best to treat this kind of thing with some suspicion, especially where SSNs are involved.
Thread Closed
This thread is kinda stale and has been closed but if you'd like to continue the conversation, please create a new thread in our Forums,
or Contact Us and let us know.