Community member Nathan Ruyle has reached out to us asking if we would share his experiences after buying an iLok protected plug-in on line..

I just had a recent experience with an iLok software license that I thought I would share with you as a cautionary tale about purchasing software from individuals rather than a vendor. 

I purchased a copy of Revibe 2 via Ebay last year and the seller transferred it to my iLok account with no problem. I’ve been using it in my mix template since then.  A few days ago (7 months after it had been added to my iLok account) I got an email from iLok:

“Licenses that were deposited in error to a different iLok account and then resold to you by another iLok user were also discovered in this audit.

We’ve corrected the problem that caused these duplicate license deposits, and as part of the clean up, the duplicate licenses are now set to be returned.

The following licenses that were deposited in error were removed from your account.”

So basically some kind of error was made leaving me to figure out how to get a refund from the seller.

“Our records indicate that one or more of the licenses were purchased from another ilok.com user. Please contact the seller of each license if you wish to obtain a refund. You can find the seller’s name and other information in the email we sent to you on the transfer date. You may also try to seek a refund through any 3rd party broker, such as Ebay or PayPal. Please do not contact ilok.com support; unfortunately they will not be able to assist you.”

However Ebay only protects a purchase for 30 days so I’m out a few hundred dollars. The seller is MIA and I doubt will make it right. Lesson learned and not the end of the world. I own over $30K in software licenses so it’s a drop in the bucket but I wasn’t aware that this kind of thing was something iLok could and would do. I think knowing that can happen should raise a new level of concern for those going on Ebay to get software. I know in the past you have talked on the podcast about grabbing HD licenses from Ebay for example. In the case of this purchase the seller had a 100% positive rating with 300 sales so at the time I felt safe but clearly something fraudulent was afoot. Just thought it would be good to raise a little more awareness about the dangers of these kinds of purchases when ILok can retroactively do whatever they want with your account.  

Thanks for all your hard work for the community. Keep it up!

Thanks Nathan for your kind words and bringing this issue to the front. When you get caught out it is often easier just to say nothing, so thank you for stepping up and sharing your experience.

You are correct that you have been a victim of fraud, but iLok is the innocent party here. Their responsibility is largely to the software vendors and developers who contract them to provide protection for their products. Because iLok effectively has a complete database of who owns what, they can check if licenses end up in accounts of people who shouldn’t have them and from your experience they clearly do, but they are protecting their clients, the software developers.  

I would try going back to Ebay as it would appear as though you have been a victim of fraud by someone who is selling on their platform. Although they or may not be able to refund your money they do need to be aware of the tactics of people using their platform.