Am i being too cautious?

Author
Discussion

silverfoxcc

Original Poster:

7,933 posts

157 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
I have been sent a zip fil from a a trusted source and it has HEIC files. When i try to open them a pop up tell me i need to install HEVC Video extension... But when i go to download it it advises me it will cost 0.79p..which is a rather weird price.Somehow i get the gut feeling that it may be a scam, but am i being too paranoid over it?

jasonrobertson86

1,124 posts

16 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
silverfoxcc said:
I have been sent a zip fil from a a trusted source and it has HEIC files. When i try to open them a pop up tell me i need to install HEVC Video extension... But when i go to download it it advises me it will cost 0.79p..which is a rather weird price.Somehow i get the gut feeling that it may be a scam, but am i being too paranoid over it?
no

fat80b

2,657 posts

233 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Sounds dodgy to me.

Although having googled it, it does appear to be a legit thing.


bitchstewie

57,412 posts

222 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
If the files are legitimate it isn't a scam the extension to play them with the Windows default media player isn't free.

VLC is open source and will probably play them.

MitchT

16,598 posts

221 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
.HEIC is the standard format for pics taken on my iPhone - I believe it may be due to them being "live" photos. If I save them to my iCloud drive and then open them in the Preview app on my Mac I can export them in other formats such as JPEG, etc. I don't know what facility a Windows machine would have for dealing with them. Maybe your default picture viewing app will work.

snuffy

11,009 posts

296 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Having just looked it up, it is indeed a video codec that you have to pay for. And it's $1, I.e 79p.

Ask whoever sent you the file for 79p !

ARHarh

4,571 posts

119 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
quotequote all
Apparently VLC will do it for free.

https://www.makeuseof.com/cant-open-heic-files-on-...

not tried it so don't blame me if it doesn't work. VLC is a great media player, and will solve most problems like this.

babelfish

967 posts

219 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
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It's silverfoxcc, he'll come on here, ask a random question and not come back to the thread again

outnumbered

4,534 posts

246 months

Saturday 6th July 2024
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babelfish said:
It's silverfoxcc, he'll come on here, ask a random question and not come back to the thread again
TBF he might come back a year later and ask the same question again though!

eeLee

915 posts

92 months

Sunday 7th July 2024
quotequote all
MS does offer this codec for 79p.
I think the below version is free, I have this installed, I have not paid MS for a codec.

https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9PMMSR1C...

Otherwise get something like CopyTrans which is free and will allow you to open those images.