How to permanently stop unauthorized use of license

[Don0819]

Hello, from looking at my.malwarebytes.com I have assigned to my account a Malwarebytes 3.0 Premium (formerly Anti-Malware Premium) license. I have 2 questions - first, I have several of this type of license actually, I think they are old they don't seem to be able to be used any more on a new Windows install, is that correct?

Second question and the more important, one of these licenses has, given the day I look at it, either 2 or 3 Windows devices using it. They are not mine, I have no idea how the person got the license but I know specifically what is used in our house (I have/paid for personal premium licenses), plus looking at the Windows device names, they are not mine. I have tried deactivating them through my.malwarebytes.com, but I guess since the devices come online within 24 hours they are activated again. Is there a way these devices can be permanently disassociated with my license? I would think Malwarebytes would want this too as it even notes on the screen that more devices are using the license than warranted. Or, if per question 1 these licenses are old and not usable anymore, can the license just be removed and rendered unusable?

Thanks!

 

 

 

[KenW]

The one time I had this problem with my first old license, I asked that my license code be changed which MB did. You would have to go through support for this.

[exile360]

Greetings,

We don't have access to user licenses or accounts here on the forum so you will need to contact Malwarebytes Support directly via the form on this page if you haven't done so already, though keep in mind that it may take several days to get a response due to a higher than normal support queue at the moment.  As KenW mentioned above, they should be able to change your license keys to prevent them from being used by anyone not authorized to do so.

[Don0819]

Thanks @exile360 and @KenW for your replies! I actually discovered a way that might work to resolve this - so far it has (only an hour though lol, but it is a work day and I had already seen one of the devices come back online this morning). I have a Windows 10 Virtual Machine that I use for testing and limited usage, so it has never had Malwarebytes on it. So, all in one action I deactivated the rogue devices, and activated that license in my VM. So now, that VM shows up as the valid device for that license, and I am guessing it won't let those other devices use that license? What do you think? I'll report back on this thread in a week if it is working or not, the solution may be helpful to someone else.

I was reading on the MB site about these old lifetime licenses, and how resellers were telling people you could use on 3 PCs. I wonder if some reseller in the past copied these licenses down, I still wonder how anyone got that license - I keep things pretty buttoned down security-wise in my world. Oh well!

[exile360]

It could have been that a key generator happened to create the same license key you're using and that is what caused the issue.  Either way, I'd still suggest contacting Support as they can cancel your license key and issue you a new one so that you won't have to worry about anyone else having access to it.

[Don0819]

@exile360 ok, will do!

[Don0819]

@exile360, I did file a support ticket asking them to cancel that license and issue me a new one. I checked about an hour ago and that license had mine and two other devices on too! t seems to me that I have seen 4 or maybe even 5 unique device names using that license, so it will be good to get it terminated!

[Porthos]

7 minutes ago, Don0819 said:

I did file a support ticket asking them to cancel that license and issue me a new one.

 Be sure to give support time to get back to you. Currently it averages 5-7 days for a non automated response.

[Don0819]

@Porthos what do you mean, 'give them enough time'? I wasn't going to do anything until I hear from them and assume they would issue a new license to me. I can do without it for a week or so...

[Porthos]

7 minutes ago, Don0819 said:

what do you mean, 'give them enough time'?

People are always complaining if the ticket is not answered in a day or two. Support has been very busy lately.

[Don0819]

Ah - got it.

[AlexSmith]

@Don0819 I have limited access to some of the Support team stuff. Let me see what I can uncover for you.

[Don0819]

@AlexSmith Thanks! If I was Malwarebytes I would really want this license terminated. I have been writing down device names just sorting in the last hour, and I'll keep a list - all are Windows, all have different registration dates, I have seen no repeats but 3 different devices using it so far - and I am sure earlier today I saw other device names but did not write them down. They are random names too, not like LAPTOP-WC004, LAPTOP-WC005 etc., which might indicate a company purchase or something. 

[AlexSmith]

35 minutes ago, Don0819 said:

@AlexSmith Thanks! If I was Malwarebytes I would really want this license terminated. I have been writing down device names just sorting in the last hour, and I'll keep a list - all are Windows, all have different registration dates, I have seen no repeats but 3 different devices using it so far - and I am sure earlier today I saw other device names but did not write them down. They are random names too, not like LAPTOP-WC004, LAPTOP-WC005 etc., which might indicate a company purchase or something. 

You will have to wait for Support to follow up and research this completely. I am only seeing a single device on the key you submitted in the ticket, but like I said I only have access to some of those systems.

With that being said, I see you have another ticket about using some of your legacy lifetime licenses on macOS. While new subscription licenses are multi-platform (Windows, macOS, Android, Chromebooks), Legacy Lifetime licenses are for Windows only. See the details here: https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038516814

[Don0819]

Thanks @AlexSmith! The reason you only saw 1 user on that license I submitted was because I have been hitting "Deactivate All" throughout the day to clear them out and see how many unique devices there all that use this! That was the fourth since I started writing them down. So if you can terminate it you probably should!

[Don0819]

@AlexSmith fyi, I am up to 8 different devices that have popped up using that license number! I am starting to record the date registered, a number of them see to be in September of this year, but not all. Malwarebytes licensing is really getting abused on this one. Let me know if you want to see the list of device names.

[Don0819]

@AlexSmith I'll add this point too, if you have any contact with support - a 9th device just appeared that I did not have on my list, and it was newly registered with Malwarebytes on 9/26. I have seen 2 others registered on 9/24. This license number must be on one of those web sites that give out license numbers to use. I searched for it and found plenty of other Malwarebytes licenses (and maybe they are all bad), but not this one. In any case, it must be on a list somewhere, is my theory....

[exile360]

That's a possibility, or it could simply be that whoever has a copy of the license is deliberately changing their PC's identifier info to try and keep the key activating/working, possibly through an automated script or some other mechanism.  Support might be able to track the usage down through geolocation, assuming they aren't using a VPN or similar tech to evade targeting.  Either way, once they kill the key and issue a new one it should be resolved, assuming your system has not been compromised (and we can help you to verify it's not if you are unsure).

[Don0819]

Thanks @exile360 no, my system has not been compromised. Yes, I wish they would just kill the license asap, even if it meant taking a week to replace it. All things in due time though, it bugs me that it's being used like this lol.

[AlexSmith]

@Don0819 I have reached out to get this escalated. 

[Don0819]

@AlexSmith Thanks!

[Don0819]

@AlexSmith My daily report lol - 13 unique devices using the license number I requested to terminated, at this time. I now have registration dates on 7 of them, the oldest is Dec 10, 2019, the newest is 1 today. I have seen several 'repeat' devices be activated a number of times. I am maintaining the list if needed, I keep deactivating them as I check throughout the day.

[exile360]

Boy, somebody is going to be really disappointed once Malwarebytes kills that key

Thanks for the update and I hope they get this sorted promptly.

[Don0819]

@exile360 #14 just showed up! Registered yesterday. If they are changing device names they are going to a lot of work. My theory is they have put it on a large number of devices, but the license only allows 3 at a time. So when I started deactivating them, other devices can start to grab one of the 3 devices allowed on the license.

[exile360]

You're likely right, plus the fact that as soon as an install of Malwarebytes goes online, if there is an existing key it immediately tries to reactivate, so if that key is in use on a large number of devices, each will try to activate as soon as it can whenever it does its regular license checkins and database updates.