In the r/Scams community, user ikothsowe shared an unusual scam scheme they encountered while searching for a license for the AutoCAD 2027 software. On the website Wowcher, he saw an offer to buy a "lifetime activation key" for just £29, even though the official annual subscription costs around £1,900. Being an IT specialist with 40 years of experience, the author knew that AutoCAD is not sold on a perpetual basis, but decided to risk the amount out of curiosity to study how the scammers operate. After payment, the Wowcher platform passed his details on to the company SoftKeyCart. Expecting to receive a malware-infected installer or a fake keygen, the author instead received instructions on how to download a completely free 30-day trial version from the official Autodesk website. The scammers merely explained how to check the "do not sign in again for 30 days" box, passing off this trial period as the purchased license. After a month, the program simply stops working.

In the comments, users discussed the legal aspects of getting a refund. According to user dev-andy88, in his complaint, the author cited the outdated Sale of Goods Act 1979, whereas the Consumer Rights Act 2015 now applies for the protection of digital content. Since the purchase amount does not exceed £100, Section 75 protection does not apply, and the user needs to initiate a chargeback directly through their bank, providing screenshots of the correspondence with SoftKeyCart as proof of the scam. According to user Repulsive-Durian4800, buying a "lifetime" license for next to nothing should have raised suspicions from the very beginning, and for free legal use of the program, there is a student version available with an .edu email address.