FMovies is a website that allows visitors to stream thousands of movies and TV programs for free. It’s only been around for a few years but has become hugely popular. It’s partly because of the number of titles it offers, partly because it’s easy to use and looks like a legitimate site such as Netflix.
Is FMovies legal?
That’s a tricky question, mainly because the law differs in different countries. However, FMovies has had several lawsuits in the US, including trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and false advertising. It has had to change domains, and shift to fmovies.co several times, and move from country to country to stay lawful. So the simple answer to the question is ‘no, probably not.’
Is FMovies safe?
It's another crucial question. After all, if it’s only streaming movies, it can’t do any harm, right?
Wrong, sadly. On each occasion, we visited FMovies to test it. Whenever we tried to watch a movie, it opened a new window or displayed a pop-up claiming Adobe Flash Player was out of date, and we should click the link in the window to update it. This is a classic malware tactic. The only place you should ever download a Flash update from is adobe.com. Any other location is likely to download malware to your computer. None of the ‘offers’ to update Flash we encountered on FMovies linked to adobe.com. FMovies will download malware to your computer.
To sum it up, FMovies is not safe to use. After all, why would any website allow you to watch brand-new movies for free? What do they get from it? The answer in the case of FMovies is that they download malware to your computer and use it to either display adverts or try and extract a ransom from you to get rid of it.
What should I do if I’ve already used FMovies?
First of all, don’t panic! If you haven’t noticed any unusual behavior of your Mac, it’s unlikely that it will cause any harm. Obviously, you should avoid using it again to avoid being tricked into clicking links that may compromise your computer, and that’s never a good thing.
As a precaution, however, you should scan your computer for malware. If you’re a Mac owner, CleanMyMac X has a Malware Removal module that scans your Mac and identifies malware, including those downloaded from FMovies.
Using it is simple: download CleanMyMac X CleanMyMac X, click Malware Removal from the sidebar, and follow the instructions. If it finds anything, it offers to remove it, and you can do so at the click of a button.
You could also use a VPN to protect your traffic from breaches and make your connection private. We recommend using ClearVPN — the first personalized VPN for an effortless and secure online experience.
ClearVPN features shortcuts for quick content access and lets users browse the web safely and privately without picking a server location, thanks to its unique DynamicFlow Technology. ClearVPN automatically analyzes the user’s current network status and connects them to the fastest idle server to enable secure, low-ping, and smooth access based on their activity or goal.
Should I use FMovies?
You’ll have to decide that for yourself. However, it seems clear that FMovies host malware and is a threat to your computer. In addition, it seems to breach several trademark and copyright laws in many countries. That's a red flag, don't you think? So if you still decide to use it, you should, at the very least, be vigilant and not click on any link in a window or tab that opens when you visit the site.
FMovies looks like a legitimate streaming site on the surface, but dig a little deeper, and you'll realize that it's far from being safe. As with many things on the web, if you’re not paying for a service, providers will look to extract money from you in other ways: infecting your Mac with intrusive adverts or hidden malware. This is exactly the case with FMovies.
