A Microsoft support employee activated Windows 10 on a customer's PC using a crack. The operating system failed to activate normally using a genuine serial number the user has bought in advance, so he had to contact the support for help. Much to the surprise of the user, the second line support engineer solved the problem with a crack tool.
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He contacted technical support, but initially they could not help him with anything. Then a member of official Microsoft support contacted the customer again, logged in remotely using Quick Assist, and ran several commands to activate Windows 10 using unofficial tools that bypass the Windows activation process.
"I can't believe it. My official Microsoft Store Windows 10 Pro key wouldn't activate. Support couldn't help me yesterday. Today it was elevated. Official Microsoft support (not a scam) logged in with Quick Assist and ran a command to activate windows... BRO IT'S A CRACK. NO CAP," says the user on Twitter.
There is no surprise in that the situation left the user frustrated.
The entire reason I paid was to not download sus software. And they did it for me.
It was obvious that the method the support engineer used it not legal, but the user decided to get the official confirmation from the tool author. He has joined the Discord channel for the tool, where the stuff confirmed that the software is neither legit or officially supported.
"I can not believe Microsoft's answer to a broken activation system is to crack windows via official support channels 🤣," the user was surprised.
BleepingComputer managed to reach a Microsoft's spokesperson. Here's the official comment on the subject.
We strive to provide best-in-class support for our customers. The technique you described would be against our policy. We are investigating this occurrence and will take appropriate steps to ensure proper procedures are followed regarding customer support for our products and services.
It is needed strange to see such a "solution" being used by the official support channel. From replies to Mr. Pyburn's tweet you will find that it is not the first time when the Microsoft support team solves activation issues by using cracks. That's a totally unexpected from the company that has implemented such a complicated activation system.
While modern editions of Windows still require the classic 25-character activation key, the process itself includes users' hardware IDs and even a Microsoft account if you're using one. Perhaps the activation system has been over-engineered that much that hacking the OS is much easier, even if you work for Microsoft.
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Seems to me like this should have been sent to business support, not technical support. If this was indeed bought via a Microsoft store, surely they could have just verified that and just issue a new key.