Who is sending me secret spy software

June 17, 2009 10:07 AM

Why/How did I get mystery software from China? Also applicable: Who/What/When/Where.

A few months ago I received a package in the mail from China. I occasionally receive (expected) packages from Hong Kong, so this package didn't freak me out that much initially -- I figured it was a gift from a merchant I patronize (who has been known to send random little gifts airmail).

...Until I opened it to find an extremely well pirated copy of Windows Vista Ultimate. I had absolutely no involvement with anything even remotely related to ordering software, much less pirated software from China. (I am 100% certain this is unrelated to the business I have with Hong Kong, the address was unrelated and email to that business has confirmed they have no idea what I'm talking about).

The box looks correct, same funky styling, high quality printing, but all printed material including the packaging look just a *tiny* bit off-color, like a color xerox. The CDs inside have not-quite convincing 'holographic' stickers on them. The inside of the booklets look a little grainy, again like a relatively high quality color xerox.

Paranoid to the core, I have not so much as put it in the same room as a working computer.

I'm not even sure what I'm specifically asking, but maybe the HiveMind will know what this is, where it came from, why I got it, and what I should do with it? I have considered that it's some sort of sneaky spy software the Chinese government has sent me -- but that seems a little far fetched... Thoughts?

posted by wrok to grab bag (11 comments total)

Take it in to the post office and talk to the postal inspector. Tell him everything, just like you have here. Leave it with him. Then forget about it, unless it happens again.

My guess is that it was misaddressed.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:10 AM on June 17

It had my name, address and phone number on it! :tinfoilhat:
posted by wrok at 10:12 AM on June 17

Right. What I mean is that someone had a list of addresses, including yours, and copied the wrong one onto the box.

Regardless, you haven't done anything wrong, for the moment. But counterfeit goods are contraband, so you need to turn them in.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:17 AM on June 17

One possibility is that the intended recipient has the same name as you. The sender in HK looked up the name on the web using a white-pages site, and got your entry by mistake, and addressed the package to you.

In which case no tinfoil hat would be needed.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:26 AM on June 17

Obviously, don't install it. You could contact Microsoft and tell them you received it. Or you could just sit on it believing it was misaddressed. Or you could save it for the next time your PC blue screens and take it outside and kill it with fire.

I wouldn't spazz over this too much unless you start receiving other things from China.
posted by jerseygirl at 10:53 AM on June 17

So many people run pirated copies of windows that this isn't a big deal at all. Just throw it away or lock it up somewhere writing "PIRATED" with a sharpie on the box and disk if you're really worried about it.

It was probably just addressed to you wrong. I've received packages from K-mart (where I have never even shopped online) that contained lots of items and UPS would contact me to pick the package back up.

Just an internal shipping error mostly likely for you too.
posted by zephyr_words at 10:54 AM on June 17

Another possibility, albeit a random one: it's an extremely well-made counterfeit that is loaded with a rootkit (or whatever the windows equivalent is) to send the user's files somewhere. Given that it's from China, and you do regular business with Hong Kong, it could be something as straightforward as Chocolate Pickle suggests, or something as tinfoilhat as a bulk mailing by the government of China in the hope recipients will install and use it, done as part of a general intelligence gathering effort.

Regardless of the reason, the postal inspector is the correct place to go, as Chocolate Pickle suggests. Nevertheless, I hope my speculation has satisfied your tinfoilhat emotional needs. ;)
posted by davejay at 10:57 AM on June 17 [1 favorite]

As I learned through this local DC area story, apparently smugglers will send packages to addresses they have on file and then go and claim the package later as mislabeld.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:23 PM on June 17

Can I officially ask for a followup when this is solved? I'm fascinated by DaveJay's theory.
posted by rokusan at 1:07 PM on June 17

Haha, Davejay's theory is the funniest thing I've read today. The government of China is shipping copies of Vista, an OS hardly anyone wants to use, to random people in the US to spy on their porn and fan fiction stories?
posted by zephyr_words at 1:21 PM on June 17

Chinese spyware isn't as far fetched as you'd imagine... Unfortunately, I have no Tibet ties so that probably rules that out.
posted by wrok at 2:14 PM on June 17