So, you think your digital downloads are safe? You had better think again! Let me just explain before we get any deeper into this guide that NOTHING, No System Anywhere in the World can be considered 100% safe from thievery.

There are people out there that actually don't mean any harm by stealing, it is just a sad fact that maybe they cannot afford the prices for certain things they want, or need. But, there are others. . .

Others that really DO intend on harming the author, or reseller, by pilfering their goods. And to make matters even worse, they offer these stolen goods to others for a staggering price tag of, are you ready for this. . .

100% F-R-E-E!!

Think you're immune? Well, I'm here to tell you that you aren't. If big dog Marketers can be stolen from, what makes you think that an average "Joe" or "Jane" has a magical bag of "security" tricks? Look at it like this, if the guys(and gals) that are pulling in tens of thousands of dollars through massive product launches, they should be over-protective of their respective profits. So, if they can be stolen from, how hard do you think it would be to steal from YOU?! Not hard at all.

Don't believe me?

Okay, well here's a case study for you. Now, I will NOT be offering links to the sites in question because that would just leave you with a foul temptation to participate in the thief rings and download $100+ products for absolutely nothing. Not fair to the authors, is it? Besides, I personally don't want to give these types of people any more publicity than they already get by creating such sites and doing what they do.

Let's continue on. . .

There is at least one site that takes the sincerest of pride in stealing high ticket items and then offering them up to the masses for the huge $0 price tag. I know because I have been there. And how did I get there? By doing some harmless research on a product that I had genuine interest in and whether or not I felt comfortable with promoting said product to my own mailing list. And, if said product had an affiliate program that could be joined without actually purchasing the product itself.

Which as many Internet Marketers know is what most affiliate promoters do. So there I was, happily going through all those pretty little Google search listings, and what should I come across but the site in question. I was utterly blown away by this site's audacity and cruel intentions towards any and all Internet Marketers far and wide.

The funniest part was not the fact that this site was offering up plenty of products for free to anyone who wanted to download them, and these were in the $97 to $197 dollar range, but the point in which the site was encouraging all those that visited to do the exact same thing!! Bad form. Bad form.

And just how did this site instruct the newly enlisted thieves? Via charge-backs. This is the WORST thing that any customer can do to a digital product seller. Why? The simple fact is that once someone purchases your digital product, they download it. Period. They have it and you cannot get it back from them. But THEY can certainly get their money back from you. Then you're left in the inevitable red instead of the proverbial black. Which is where most of us want to be, in the "black" I mean ;-).

What really sucks about the above charge-back scheme is that not only are these people instructed to buy your product, then get their money back, but to use their OWN affiliate links so they don't even pay full price for your product! Well there's no law against using your affiliate links to save yourself some money. Other Marketers do this all the time. Just not in such a deviant manner.

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that plenty of financial institutions are in favor, and heavily so, towards their clients. Your buyers. And, just as unfortunate is the fact that there are not many protections for digital product resellers. You and me.

In essence, any prospective buyer can send a claim off to their credit card company, or other financial institution, with any type of reason attached to retrieve their money back for an intangible product. Such is the case with digital products. They are not physical. Therefore, there is no type of proof that the buyer actually received the product. In other words, you, my friend, are screwed.

This is no different from returning a physical product purchased to a brick-and-mortar store when its usefulness is gone. Or you simply bought the wrong item. Or, when you have run out of money and you need it back. The store loses. In this case though, these are valid claims, for the most part at any rate, and they return the goods. Not the case with digital products as I said before. This is an impossibility.

Now, the above admission is not added in the intent to scare you. No. It is meant to educate you on just how easy it is for someone to legally steal from you. Yes. Legally Steal From YOU. Pretty crappy, I know. But true none the less.

So, now we know how this type of pilfering is done. But, how do we stop it from happening?

With regards to charge-backs, there is no way at the time of this writing to effectively stop it. And this will continue on until someone from these financial companies steps up to the plate and recognizes that digital products are just as valuable as physical products are. Something needs to be done to protect the authors or resellers initial investment. This, I leave up to the big wigs to hash out.

There are other ways these folks get and pass out your digital goods like leftover Halloween candy throughout the cyber neighborhood.

One of the other biggies is making the "secret log in" information available to anyone who wants it by either posting it on their website, or even reselling it. Mostly though, they get a greater pleasure by attempting to "stick it to the Man(or Woman)" by giving this type of information away without cost.

Right, so let's say that you have a password protected download page containing all your digital goodies from your newest, and hottest sale. Or an exclusive Members Only download section. Well, you'd think that would be enough right? WRONG!

Most Internet Marketers don't take the time to send out pre-selected username/password combinations. It takes too much work and effort. Plus, what's the point? The theives will still be able to pass out their personal information to others anyway. Although, if you did generate separate username/password combinations to each of your buyers, then it would make it bunches easier to track who was logging in and from where. See too many different ISP's and you've snagged your theif!

There are tools available that do this type of thing. Of course they aren't cheap. But, they are effective in aiding you in stopping digital theft. And, as usual, they won't put a stop to this type of behavior 100%. Only lessen the revenue loss somewhat for the seller. We'll discuss this a bit later within this guide.

****************SIDE NOTE***************
You may be familiar with the word "barter". If not, how about "trading". Of course this activity has been going on for many years. What we are discussing here is NOT about making a one on one trade, product for product, author to author. We are discussing out and out theft. Illegal stealing and then offering someone else's hard work to others for free is something completely different.
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The most alarming thing about digital product theft is that it shows absolutely no signs of slowing down or stoping anytime soon. So long as there are ways to receive digital products, there will always be someone waiting in the wings to snatch it up and pass it around. However, we CAN slow this type of deceptive activity down from a flood to a trickle.

Now we come to the "good stuff". Letting you know how to try and reduce the amount of products stolen from YOU. There are a few things you can do to lessen this type of activity. And now I'm going to tell you what these are and instruct you on how to use them effectively.