Suspected phishing/scam

[jgraman5020]

I got an email from someone saying they are from Autodesk and they accused us of violating our licensing agreement.  I am trying to see if anyone knows the official process from Autodesk to contact someone suspected of overusing AutoCAD licenses.  Before I dig into the potential violation, I want to make sure this is not a scam.  Thanks

[Patchy]

It happened now and then, all fakes, Autodesk don't send you email for that, they just get to your door and knock ☺

Email, who can trust email? You would get a registered mail thru the USPS and a lawyer's signature.

[jgraman5020]

Thanks,

Do you or anyone at Autodesk know the exact way that these things are communicated?  i.e. Do we get a letter first, is it an officical email address that if an email is sent it would come from?  I am sure that there is a process, just want to see if our situation matches the official processs or not.  I dont want to call it a scam, then get letters from attorneys...

[Patchy]

Did it address to you by your name or Dear Autocad user?

Post a snap shot of the heading and let's see.

[pendean · Accepted solution]

This is normally what happens:
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/installation-licensing/software-compliance-email-is-this-legit/td-p/6....

Contact a reseller in your region of the world for validation of what you got, guidance and help https://www.autodesk.com/partners/locate-a-reseller

Then read this https://scottandscottllp.com/autodesk-audits-how-did-autodesk-know-to-audit-you-and-what-to-do-now/

[Anonymous]

hi @jgraman5020 ,

I want you to please provide me an update whether it was a phising email or a legitimate one because I'm facing the same scenario as yours. 

A reply will be very beneficial for me and please do it as soon as possible.

Thanks.

[pendean]

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/suspected-phishing-scam/m-p/9916093#M1037530

[Anonymous]

Hi,

This is the e mail that they have sent me, it looks fishy though, moreover they are threatening me to purchase 1 year license of autocad at a discountthat raises suspicions eccentric more. Also I'm attaching the screenshot for the reference. 

"

Kind Attn: Mr. Vishan,

Without Prejudice

I am a part of the Software Asset Management program of Autodesk India P Ltd. (“Autodesk”). Autodesk is a world leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software and owns the copyright to, amongst other software titles, AutoCAD, 3ds Max and Maya. 

I am writing to formally request an assessment of your deployment and use of Autodesk software at Your organization, pursuant to the Autodesk Licenses and Services Agreement (LSA) / End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) which contains terms and conditions which govern usage of Autodesk software and includes the right to audit, please consider this communication as formal notification that we intend to exercise our right for audit prior written notice as per licensing agreement. 

From this point forward, therefore, we kindly ask you to refrain from deleting or removing any Autodesk software currently installed on your organizations computers until the audit process is complete. We would also add that until the present audit engagement is finalized, any new procurement of Autodesk software by will not be relevant in case the audit shows compliance issues that call for resolution.

As part of this process, we will share ScanWin tool link to perform a self-audit. This tool will help you to collect Autodesk software usage and deployment data to help this process run efficiently should appoint a technical representative to work with us / on this tool. After running the tool, you will have to export the report in CSV format and need to share with Autodesk for further considerations.

Scan win tool link: or

https://samtools.autodesk.com/m/88633/l/1117828-scanwin-installer

I am also looping in our Auditing partners I.e. Ernst & young  to help on commencing the audit process either remotely or on premise , Auditor representative will reach out to you shortly to help you with the audit process.

We look forward to completing it by 24th June 2021,  I request your team to expedite the review process and help complete it at the earliest. 
                . 
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 

Your cooperation and participation in this assessment will be highly valued."

 

[pendean]

Contact a reseller in your region of the world for validation of what you got, guidance and help https://www.autodesk.com/partners/locate-a-reseller

[topa3d]

Unfortunate that this could be a sophisticated spam and if it were real, that there is no inquiry, audit, or notice whatsoever that something doesn't look right.

[RobDraw]

Did you have a question?

[jeffpTQTUW]

I've been receiving threatening e-mails from an e-mail address that belongs to someone who works at AutoDesk.  I've pasted a snip of the language below.  Can this possibly be real?  Any help is appreciated.  Jeff

"Was this resolved? Any outstanding questions on what is needed to be done to resolve?

Following up on this to see if an approved purchase was made or if we start a formal manager escalation. Upon escalation an additional 30% cost recovery will be reviewed to be added to your case and then our next step will be legal escalation if we cannot resolve this. Please let me know if this has not been completed and I will start taking the steps of a formal escalation.

To explain our process in a bit more detail, instead of charging for the overuse and asking for a check, we resolve with the purchase of software that you can then use for the length of the subscription going forward. Hopefully we can find you something that will bring value to you and your business, and will be sufficient for us to close out your case.

Autodesk is offering you an opportunity to resolve this compliance situation in a forward-looking and commercial way. To do so, Autodesk requires that you invest in the Autodesk products of your choice at an amount equal to or greater than the three-year subscription price of the noncompliant products. You do not need to buy like-for-like products.

This business proposal is offered to provide you with greater value than paying damages, and even attorneys’ fees, to resolve legal claims for copyright infringement and breach of contracts. I am hoping we can resolve this without the need to escalate further.

Thanks,"

[RobDraw]

I wouldn't respond or click on links until I verified that were actually problems with my account. Verify through any other means. Signing into your account from a different device should be sufficient to bypass any possible threat.

[jeffpTQTUW · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your reply.  Logging into my account does not show any deficiencies with our licensing.  In fact, I have an e-mail from Customer Support stating that they see no issues with my licensing.  Later e-mails state that the person contacting me is from AutoDesk and that I should reply immediately.  E-mail can be faked, but there are several software licensing compliance attorneys copied.  Would they really just have you spend money on random software?  It doesn't make sense.  

[RobDraw]

DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS FROM TOPA3D!!!

[jeffpTQTUW]

Thanks, I did not.  The plot thickens.  

[topa3d]

Hello, I'm not trying to provide any spam or anything. I simply have experience with this issue and wanted to help out. One issue is that the AEC Suite can actually be logged into if a user is in the AEC portal, whether they have a license or not. This can trigger a violation to the terms and agreements for your license. There are a few other items such as Autodesk not notifying customers if they are in non-compliance until it may be too late. This issue has been raised with Autodesk and they suggested they are working on these things. Happy to help if you'd like to chat - but otherwise we wish you the best.

[RobDraw]

The guys over in the Installation and Licensing forum are really good and help you in the forum so that others can learn.

[jeffpTQTUW]

@RobDraw, Thank you for your time.  I've bounced over to Installation and Licensing.  Jeff 

[shanewang7LSSX]

Thanks for your time on call as you didn’t listen to me.

We appreciate that you’re probably busy, but we need your help to resolve some potential issues with your Autodesk products.

We believe that [company name’s] use of Autodesk products may not comply with the Autodesk Terms of Use (TOU).  To resolve the issue, wherever there is a license shortfall in your account, or we find a noncompliance, you will need to purchase the equivalent of a 3-year subscription for that product.   This means you will need to purchase new products with the minimum value of [$8379] by [2/09/2023]. 

Please let me know if you plan to resolve this through our eStore, or with a partner, and how I can assist in this process.  

Lets us know your availability for a Team’s meeting next this week or next week.

Renewal Doesnt need $8379!! This is obviously a Scam!