In reply to Tomas M..

It is extremely clear that these plugin developers are not doing their homework when it comes to vetting buyers.

The sellers have a responsibility to existing users to do their homework. Anyone that says the seller shouldn't share in any blame is crazy. OF COURSE THEY SHOULD!

I don't know the details and backstory on the sale of these plugins but I have to wonder if it's similar to the situation with the Display Widgets plugin. We know the backstory on that one. WordFence did an indepth report on it. There were a LOT of red flags that went unheeded prior to the sale. So many red flags that it's shocking that it even transpired.

Let's make this simple... reputation matters.

If you do not know the reputation of the seller when selling a plugin with thousands of active installs (hundreds of thousands in this case)... DO NOT SELL TO THEM. If you have trouble vetting a buyer... DO NOT SELL TO THEM. If you can't find anyone in the WordPress community that knows who the buyer is... DO NOT SELL TO THEM.

If they appear to be buying up random plugins with no discernable business model... DO NOT SELL TO THEM. If you've never heard of them... DO NOT SELL TO THEM. If they appear to be shady SEO marketers... DO NOT SELL TO THEM. If they mention their involvement in online casinos and using plugins as a sales tactic for casinos when communicating with them... DO NOT SELL TO THEM.

That online casino bit may have seemed random but it was literally one of the many red flags in the Display Widget correspondence leading up to it's sale.

Please do your homework people. It's not hard. Don't fail your users. If you do, you absolutely do shoulder some of the blame.