Is this Microsoft offer a scam?
Q
I received an email from my workplace with a link that offers a heavily discounted copy of Microsoft Office for £9.95. That’s a huge discount and I’d love to buy it at this price but I’m worried that this is some kind of scam. The linked website, which is www.microsofthup.com, looks legitimate but it’s asking for my work email address before I can go any further. Why does it need this? I’m nervous that it might be a scam, and that entering my email address would lead to spam. What do you think? Jessica Thornton
A
The website you mention is legitimate, and relates to what Microsoft calls the Home Use Program (HUP). This allows employees of participating companies to purchase a discounted licence to download and use the latest edition of Microsoft Office for one device. So, assuming the email from your company is itself legitimate, then this is not a scam.
However, if you’re in doubt you should check with your firm’s IT department to confirm it is indeed participating in HUP — because someone there will have been appointed by Microsoft as what it calls the Benefits Administrator (BA). This BA will be able to verify that the email you’ve received is genuine.
Assuming all is well, then the reason the HUP website needs your work email address is to confirm you’re eligible for the download (see screenshot 1). You’ll also be asked to supply a ‘program code’, which will be unique to your organisation. If it wasn’t in the original email, then you’ll need to request it from your company’s BA. When you click Submit on the HUP page, Microsoft will email a link to your work email address (see screenshot 2): click this to visit the Microsoft Store, where you can complete your Office purchase.