Office 365 login credentials

Question

Purchased a office 365 Pro liscence from Elektromart in Jan 2025. Was provided login credentials which worked fine for a while and then stopped on grounds that the credentials were invalid.

Was provided a new set of credentials which again worked for a while and stopped. Have since received anothe two sets of credentials, ie a total of 4 since purchase of the liscence.

What's going on here??

Vij

<<removed PII>>

Answer 1

The fact that the seller needs to provide you with login credentials is a red flag. It means they are reselling volume licenses. Legitimate retail office products will ask you to link it to your own Microsoft account, and then it is yours, only yours.

I think you have the Pro Plus product. The Pro Plus product is not designed for home users. It is a volume license, which means it is intended for organizations, not individuals. These licenses are managed by an organization’s IT department and are tied to a contract with Microsoft. Because of how volume licensing works, activation may depend on things like installation limits or periodic validation through an organization’s KMS server. Those processes require IT support from the organization that owns the license. That is why these licenses are not meant to be sold to individuals. Home users typically do not have access to the IT infrastructure needed to manage or maintain them. Unfortunately, some third-party sellers offer these licenses at very low prices. They may seem like a good deal, but they are often resold in ways that violate the licensing terms. Most buyers are not aware of these details until problems occur. I am afraid you would have to dispute this with seller as you have been scammed.

Answer 2

Hi @Vij ,

Based on your description, this behavior is not consistent with a legitimate Microsoft 365 (Office 365) license. Microsoft does not distribute subscriptions by repeatedly issuing new login credentials for the same purchase. A valid license should be tied to a single, persistent Microsoft account (personal or work/school), not rotating accounts that stop working over time.

What you are likely experiencing is one of the following:

• The seller may be providing access to shared or unauthorized accounts that are periodically disabled or reclaimed.
• The credentials could belong to volume or enterprise tenants where accounts are created and later removed.
• The licenses may have been resold in violation of Microsoft’s terms, leading to accounts being blocked.

In this situation, it would be best to stop using the provided credentials, verify whether any subscription is actually associated with your own account via https://account.microsoft.com/services (if applicable), and contact the seller to request either a subscription assigned directly to your account or a legitimate redemption key that you can activate yourself. If they are unable to provide this, requesting a refund would be a reasonable next step.

You can also contact Microsoft Support to help validate whether the subscription is legitimate and get further guidance: https://support.microsoft.com/contactus

Using licenses delivered this way can lead to loss of access, security risks, and unexpected service interruptions.

Regards,
Burak V.

Answer 3

The behavior described strongly suggests that the “Office 365 Pro” license sold by the retailer is not a legitimate personal Microsoft 365 subscription tied to a permanent Microsoft account, but instead a shared or recycled work/school account that is being disabled, reclaimed, or reused repeatedly.

Key points based on the symptoms:

1. Legitimate Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscriptions:
   • Are always associated with a single Microsoft account (for example, someone@example.com).
   • Do not require the seller to keep issuing new usernames and passwords.
   • Are managed by signing in at https://account.microsoft.com/services to see the active subscription.
2. Repeatedly changing credentials:
   • Being given multiple different usernames/passwords over time is a strong indicator that the “license” is actually access to someone else’s Microsoft 365 tenant (for example, a bulk/volume or organizational subscription) rather than a proper retail subscription.
   • When that organization or reseller disables or reassigns the account, sign-in stops working and a new set of credentials is issued.
3. Proper way to verify a valid subscription:
   • A genuine Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscription should appear when signing in to the Subscriptions page: https://account.microsoft.com/services.
   • If the subscription does not appear there under a personal Microsoft account, the product is not a standard consumer license.
4. What to do next:
   • Stop using any credentials that are not under direct control (for example, accounts that the seller owns and can change at any time).
   • Contact Microsoft Support and provide purchase details to check whether the product key or subscription is valid and to report possible misuse or fraud.
   • If the key or account has been resold or compromised, report the issue to Microsoft using the official reporting channels for fraudulent or non-genuine Office keys.

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References:

• My username and password have stopped working
• Troubleshoot installing Office
• Unlicensed Product and activation errors in Office
• Can't sign in to microsoft 365 desktop apps - Microsoft Q&A
• Trying to use an Office365 product key and "getting error PaymentAuthenticationVerificationFailed" - Microsoft Q&A
• Theft/Fraud Associated with my Office Product Key. - Microsoft Q&A