(Updated) A user writes: "There is an investigative article exposing sites like Freedownloadhq.com and 1000downloads.com that charge people for free programs like eMule and Firefox. I'm shocked search companies proclaiming mantras like "don't be evil" list these "sucker born every minute" sites in their sponsored links and page ranks."

Full article here.

Update (Feb. 9): It seems like scammers aren't satisfied in hoodwinking people into paying for free software. Now they're even selling support as well. The result is fairly predictable.