FINDING FREE SOFTWARE

If one has all the patience of Job, there is free software on the Internet to equal almost any of the paid programs out there. However, marketers and web masters have teamed to thwart the public at every turn. They lead us down the primrose path that snake oil salesman have used forever and pull the old bait and switch on us.

Many who advertise a free program turn out to be free for 30 or some such days, after which the trial ends and the user pays the piper. It seems that is a favorite trick of lots of businesses. Verizon loves to make free offers such as three months of free HBO and movie package. You will be charged up front with money back when you cancel. However, if you fail to phone to cancel before that time is up, you will be charged for the amount you used before you contacted them to drop the offer.

Shelley Emblad, from About.com writes: "The Internet abounds with free software and cheap software offerings for Quicken, Microsoft Money and other personal finance software packages. Are these free or cheap software offers for real?"..."Most offers for free or cheap software end with one or more of these results:

* Your email address or other personal information is harvested for future promotions.

* You complete the order screen only to find extreme shipping costs.

* You find that you've purchase OEM software.

* You bought an illegal pirated copy of software and have broken the law.

* You bought counterfeit software which looks like the software you want but is incomplete or contains malicious programming which is illegal, destroys your data and causes system problems.

* You bought software stolen from a retail establishment or warehouse.

None of this is worth the cost savings. While the top-selling financial software packages can be pricey, keep in mind that you have options to the high-priced financial software packages which may meet your needs."

In January of 2007, the FTC halted a 'free software CD' scam. As though it hasn't been dangerous enough to keep from being scammed, the pressure has gone up since the economy has tanked.