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A Florida woman, Heidi Richards, was sentenced to 22 months in prison and fined $50,000 for running a scheme through her company Trinity Software Distribution. Between 2018 and 2023, she paid over $5 million for Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity (COA) labels separated from their original software packages, transcribed the product activation keys into spreadsheets, and sold them at heavily discounted prices. The labels covered Windows 10 and Microsoft Office versions. COA labels are anti-counterfeiting measures not meant to be sold separately, but a black market exists due to supply chain vulnerabilities. Richards was convicted by a federal jury following a November 2025 trial.

Windows, Office software scalper jailed for 22 months