What Happened To FMovies? Is it Safe and Legal To Use?

Quick Facts

FMovies is a website that allows users to stream or download thousands of movies and TV shows and series for free. It has attained huge popularity since it launched in 2016. The site gets about 1 million monthly visitors which is partly because of the plethora of movie titles it offers, and partly because of the fact that it is easy to use.

However, one question that has been on the mind of users and visitors especially after it got blocked from Google searches in 2016 is; Does it really work? If it does, is it safe to use? Follow us as we explore these questions and other things you need to know about FMovies.

A Review of FMovies

FMovies is an online video streaming site that grants its users free access to a large database of movies and TV programs. It was launched sometime in 2016 but by December of the same year, it was blocked from Google searches. Since then, FMovies has been blocked multiple times and has faced as many lawsuits as you can count on your fingers.

All these have made it appear as a farce. It has also made its users and critics alike question its credibility, legality, and whether it is safe to use.

One thing that has however remained interesting about the site is that it has weathered every obstacle that has come its way. As of September 2019, it was revealed that the website is still active although its location is unclear.

Is FMovies Legal?

With the way it keeps going on and off, one should be indifferent about it. The site has, over the years, witnessed several judgments against it in the US for things like piracy promotion, false advertising, trademark infringement, and copyright infringement.

Thus, it has had to change domains, moving, for instance, to fmovies.co, more than once. As of April 2019, fmovies.top is the original Fmovies website. Also, it has moved from country to country to evade or stay ahead of the law, since copyright infringement laws differ from country to country.

It has been blocked in some of these countries where it has faced legal actions including Australia, Sweden, and India. Since the owner nor the creator of the site is unknown, and being that it is hosted offshore, even when the website is taken down, whoever the owner remains safe from any kind of legal action. The best answer to the question of its legality is probably not.

Is It Safe To Use?

The website on its own is seemingly safe. However, the problem lies with the ad network they use which is similar to those one encounter on Torrent websites. Ever noticed that whenever you visit the site either to watch a movie or download one, it opens a new window or displays a pop-up? That is, in our opinion, epic malware tactics.

This pop up directs you to a link to click on to update Adobe Flash Player which it claims is out of date. Of course, you know the only right place to ever download a Flash update is from adobe.com.

The ad network does not just contain links to explicit content, malicious content, and adware, the pop up equally downloads malware to your computer, rather than the expected update.

Now, back to the question. You could see that FMovies is not safe to use. The threats alone it could bring to your device is terrible already. Come to think of it. Why would any website allow you to watch brand new movies for free without anything in return, if not to download malware to your computer and use it to either display ads or try and extract a ransom from you to get rid of it.

I Still Want To Use FMovies

Interestingly enough, many are still willing to continue to use the website to watch their favorite movies and TV programs. Even with the threat FMovies pose to their computers coupled with the fact that it also breaches several trademark and copyright laws in many countries, and thus regularly moves domains, these ones are willing to stick their neck for F Movies.

After all, with a good antivirus installed in your system, a VPN with an additional firewall and an ad blocker plugins, you can beat the odds in this site.

How To Download Movies On FMovies

Step 1: View a video & Copy the video URL

Step 2: Open/Search 9xbuddy on any search engine and then paste the URL on the big rectangular box just below the minions. Click on the Download Button or if you are on PC/Laptop simply press Enter.

Step 3: Download Links Will Be Extracted.

You will see various media file formats & quality sizes, all you need to do is to select the one you desire. Then, your media file will start downloading after which you can watch it as many times as you want.

FMovies Alternatives

Peradventure, you don’t want to stop using pirated movie sites like FMovies, there are other healthy alternatives sites for you that not only offers you great range of your favorite movies and TV shows but are safe as well. They include:

1. Netflix
2. AZMovies
3. FilmOnline4u
4. Disney+
5. Apple+
6. MyDownloadTube
7. HaloaMovies

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.