A 23-year-old man in Oregon got himself four years in prison for selling illegal copies of software on eBay. Along the way, he was also convicted of ID theft for using some 40 and PayPal accounts to make the sales.

J.J. Mondello reaped more than $400,000 from his unlawful activities, but had to pay back $225,000 in fines and do 450 hours of community service when he gets out of prison. He got his victims’ names and information from keylogger programs, then sold software from Symantec, and Intuit.

The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) brought the complaint against Mondello, and has 32 other cases pending against eBay sellers who may be selling pirated or counterfeit software.

We all get endless offers to buy software. It is all over the Internet. Unless it is from a reputable source, it can contain viruses, keylogger programs, or other malware. Be on guard.

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