Users of Reddit's popular /r/piracy sub-Reddit are being targeted by bots hoping to obtain their Google or Facebook account details. The scam offers users the chance to get free Spotify, Netflix and similar accounts. Posting in particular threads triggers direct messages that should be ignored at all costs.

Reddit’s /r/piracy sub-Reddit is home to more than 402,000 subscribers hoping to hear about the latest news and developments in the world of digital piracy.

By its very nature, users are likely to be interested in getting something for free, so it’s no surprise that scammers are targeting its users offering just that.

Over the weekend, users of the sub-Reddit began commenting that they’d received unsolicited direct messages offering them a great deal. All they had to do was download a free piece of software called PremiumGet and in return, they would be given free premium accounts for use on Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, NordVPN and several other services.

The direct message: Ignore

It wasn’t initially clear why some users were getting the messages and others weren’t. However, a user one particular thread noted that immediately after posting in a discussion about ‘PremiumGet’, he received a message in his inbox advertising the scam. We had that theory tested and sure enough, the same message appeared.

The message contains a link to file-hosting platform Mediafire, where the suspiciously large 51.76MB file can be downloaded. According to the uploader, who engaged in disputes with other users elsewhere on Reddit about the tool, it doesn’t trigger alerts in anti-malware software so must be safe.

Not a virus – probably

The accompanying video, if anyone cares to view it, can be found here. Those who prefer not to inflate the view count on YouTube can see a screenshot below, which shows the screen directly after the one that prompts users to enter their Google or Facebook usernames and passwords.

We have zero intentions of download, installing, or otherwise testing the software, we’ll let the security specialists do their job there. However, there is a really simple rule for those still mulling it over, and we’ve seen a few of those this morning.

Random people on the Internet offering expensive stuff for free, requiring you to install software and then asking for your existing usernames and passwords to services that may have massive control over your entire digital life, never have your best interests at heart. Ever.

Walk away. Nothing good here.