Now that all of the Harry Potter films have been released, most purists will be been to the cinema to see the final installment. However, in a bid to slake the thirst of the millions of fans of the hugely successful series of books and films, author JK Rowling will release more stories and background from the world of Harry Potter via the Pottermore website.
At present the site officially opens in October, but scammers are already selling fake accounts for the site purporting to give fans early access. There are also various virus and malware programmes floating around that Potter fans are being directed to through search engine poisoning.
However, there are legitimate ways to gain access at this stage. The fastest people to complete a magical quill challenge on the Pottermore site are rewarded with beta access, although this only runs until August 6th. But that’s not where the foul-play stops. Scammers are now offering to register for this challenge and are getting hold of their personal details as a result.
In a blog post, the Pottermore administrators said buying and selling accounts was “expressly prohibited” in the terms and conditions. Also, it added, signing up with a view to selling an account “deprives genuine fans the chance to gain early access”. It added: “We have the right to terminate any Pottermore accounts that are sold online.”
So this is just a warning for all of you Harry Potter fans out there, and as always with any sort of online activities, please be careful when handing over private information and dealing with any sort of payments.