Harry Potter and the Cyber Sorcerers: Online Cons Cashing In on J.K. Rowling's Pottermore

Somebody put an Auror on this. Stat.

With her famed fantasy franchise having come to an end, J.K. Rowling created the Pottermore project to give Harry Potter fans a little parting gift—an interactive website featuring games, background information and other goodies.

Unfortunately before its official launch in October, some enterprising Death Eaters online con artists are unlawfully using the site and the boy wizard's good name for profit. So what's the deal?

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Per the BBC, the scammers are using a plethora of phishing schemes—techniques such as setting up bogus accounts to give advanced access to the beta version of the site or using malicious viruses and other Trojan horses—to dupe Netizens out of their personal information and make big money.

Not helping the situation was the fact that Rowling herself stoked excitement over the site's kickoff by holding a "Magical Quill challenge," a promotion that offered Potterphiles the chance to win one of 1 million beta accounts.

Add to that other opportunities for advanced registration via eBay and other sites, and according to Internet security analysts, it's open season for cybercriminals looking for various ways to exploit the unsuspecting. The crooks do so by bewitching eager fans to either click on redirected links that take them to various marketing surveys or trying to sell them fake Pottermore access that actually install malware (kind of a like a real-life horcrux, no?).

The author and Pottermore's administrators aren't completely caught unaware, noting in the site's terms and conditions that users are "expressly prohibited" from buying and selling accounts.

"We have the right to terminate any Pottermore accounts that are sold online," reads the legal notice.

Anybody know a good Patronus to ward off cyberfraud?

In any case, folks trying to get on the website may be having a tough time regardless: Muggles are often blocked from accessing Pottermore due to overwhelming demand.

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