Websites Offering Free Movies, TV Shows, Sports Often Serve Up Malware, Too, Says FTC

Websites that offer free content like movies, TV shows and sports are likely hiding malware that can hijack individuals' computers, steal personal data and hit them with a barrage of advertising, wrote Will Maxson, FTC assistant director-Marketing Practices Division, in a Wednesday blog post. "We recently downloaded movies from five sites that offered them for free. In all five cases, we ended up with malware on our computer. Generally, it served up a slew of unwanted ads." He said downloading pirated content is illegal. Maxson said it's also not a good idea to provide credit card information if some sites ask for it since they may not be legitimate businesses.