Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced a Seattle, Wash., man has become the sixth defendant convicted in federal court for his role in one of the largest software piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon.
“An investigation that began in Kansas City, Mo., uncovered one of the largest software piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, with tentacles reaching into cities across the United States and overseas,” Dickinson said. “Investigators seized more than $20 million in assets from conspirators who are estimated to have sold in excess of $100 million worth of illicit, unauthorized and counterfeit software products to thousands of online customers."
The multi-million dollar scheme, with co-conspirators operating overseas in the People’s Republic of China, Singapore and Germany and across the United States, illegally sold millions of dollars of Microsoft Corporation and Adobe Systems, Inc., software product key codes through a charitable organization and several online businesses.
(Product key codes are used to obtain full access to unlocked, licensed versions of various copyrighted software programs.)
“Software piracy is a significant economic crime that victimizes not only software developers and manufacturers, but unwitting consumers,” Dickinson said. “Today’s announcement is part of an ongoing investigation. We can’t provide additional information about the investigation at this time, but we expect that more offenders soon will be brought to justice.”
Casey Lee Ross, 29, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty on June 11, 2015, to his role in the conspiracy.
The investigation began when federal agents in Kansas City, Mo., learned in 2013 that Ross, the owner of Software Slashers, had purchased (and redistributed) tens of thousands of illegitimate and unauthorized Microsoft product key codes and counterfeit product key cards from sources in China.
The news release states, Ross admitted he purchased approximately 30,159 product key codes and counterfeit product key cards. Ross purchased these product key codes at prices well below that of the estimated retail price.
In many cases, they were distributed on counterfeit card stock intended to make it appear as if they were genuine Microsoft products.
Ross distributed large quantities of these product key codes and counterfeit Microsoft product key cards to co-conspirators in the United States, who in turn sold the product key codes and counterfeit product key cards through their respective websites as well as on e-commerce sites such as eBay or Amazon.
Ross admitted he received $1,387,595 from Rex Yang, Jr. of Seattle, Wash.; $1,127,190 from Matthew Lockwood, 38, of Denver, Colo.; $875,630 from Reza Davachi, 41, of Damascus, Md.; and payment for approximately 2,569 unauthorized product key codes from Arunachalam Annamalai, 48, a citizen of India residing in Las Vegas, Nev.
Rex Yang, Jr., Matthew Lockwood, Reza Davachi, Arunachalam Annamalai, and Jake Schwartz, have all been charged by other states in connection to the piracy scheme.
Ripped Off by Software Scheme?
If you purchased one of the more than 170,000 illegitimate activation keycodes: What are your options?
KC software security specialist Steve Nelson breaks down what you can and can’t do:
1. The code didn’t work when you initially typed it in to whatever software you were attempting to activate.
-You most likely are out of luck. Since the co-conspirators have pled guilty and the investigation remains open, you would have to attempt to seek a refund from the now defunct companies.2. Your software gets flagged as illegal when you try to update.
-Nelson says the software companies can offer discounts on legitimate software if you call them.3. Be Proactiv.
- The major software companies have websites where you can check to see if your registration is on the up and up.
Helpful links:
Discussion about pirated software from Adobe:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/genuine/index.html
Adobe FAQ:
You can report pirated software from Adobe here
Overview of what to look for from Microsoft:
You can report pirated software from Microsoft
You can report others you think may be committing piracy on Siia
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
