Microsoft offering big discounts to pirates
Microsoft has started offering users running pirated versions of its Microsoft 365 productivity apps significant discounts to get them to buy a genuine licence for the software.
Ghacks reported that a user in India who was running a pirated version of Excel received a message in their ribbon bar offering up to 50% off a legal copy of Microsoft 365.
Clicking on the link directed them to an information page about how running pirated software exposed their PC to security threats.
The warning said the risks of running counterfeit software included:
- Exposure to virus and malware attacks
- Corrupted files and data loss
- Inability to receive critical updates or edit files
It then gave them the option to purchase either a Microsoft 365 Family or Microsoft 365 Personal annual subscription with a 50% discount applied at checkout.
The family plan provides access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook for up to 6 people. It also includes 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage per person.
The personal option is for a single user with the same apps and 1TB of cloud storage.
The discount only applies to the first year of an annual subscription, with the regular subscription applying after that time.
Below is the offer shown to the user in India.
The promotional offer could be an attempt by the software giant to curb the unlawful use of its applications in specific regions.
A previous analysis by Microsoft showed that over 90% of personal computers in India had a high level of pirated software.
The discount also appears to be available on Microsoft 365’s US website, but changing the URL from “en-US” to “en-ZA” presented a “the page you requested cannot be found” error.
We attempted to buy the subscription from a Microsoft account without a licence but were told we were not eligible for the offer.
Taking up the offer requires logging in to a Microsoft account, which means the company might first need to have identified the potential sign-up as coming from a computer with pirated software.
Now read: This new tool lets you install any Android app on Windows 11
Loading ...