scam: themesbase.com

[CyberAlien]

This is a note to all fellow designers. Check if any of your styles are published on themesbase.com. They offer free templates and they add spam links to footer linking to junk websites.

If you know any designers who's designs are published there, please inform them about this scam.

Example of spam they add in footer (example from phpbb style downloaded from their website):
<div id='spf'><a href='http://blogs.bulldogg.co.uk/bulgariarealestate' title='bulgaria property'>bulgaria property</a></div>Powered by <a href="http://www.phpbb.com/" target="_phpbb">phpBB</a> {PHPBB_VERSION} &copy; phpBB Group<br />

[Azhrialilu]

Looks like Forumtemplates have a lot of theirs on there - this isn't the first site to be sharing their styles without permission either. I guess in a way, it's a perverse sort of flattery.

[CyberAlien]

this isn't the first site to be sharing their styles without permission either.
Of course it isn't, but they don't just share without permissions - they add spam links to real estate websites and similar junk to footer of templates.

[Si...]

If adding code to your footer is all they do, thats really trivial.

<div id='spf'><a href='http://blogs.bulldogg.co.uk/bulgariarealestate' title='bulgaria property'>bulgaria property</a></div>Powered by <a href="http://www.phpbb.com/" target="_phpbb">phpBB</a> {PHPBB_VERSION} &copy; phpBB Group<br />

This and anything like it could easily be removed.

If I remember correctly there was a vB and PHPBB skinning site, that encoded "Spyware" into the templates. (Hid them in weird places too, such as the Navbar templates) I don't believe this site is avilible anymore. About time.

So as I said, could the code in question can be removed.

[CyberAlien]

Yes, it can be easily removed. Hovewer users who download from that website don't know it, otherwise they wouldn't have downloaded from that website in the first place.

I'm sure no designer wants to be associated with real estate, viagra, etc. or any other similar spam websites, so that's why I posted it here.

[arindra]

good work :)
The main fault here is : by adding such links , they are profitting from those advertisers , and none of it is going to the actual developer . ( now wether the designer would want any of that profit is a different issue altogether )

- arindra