Is selling a win 7 or win 10 activation key as a genuine win 11 one legal?

Question

Hello there. As the title says, is It legal for an online shop to sell win 7 or win 10 activation keys advertised as win 11 ones? I had a problem with an online store who sold me a guaranteed win 11 activation key but I found out that It was actually a win 7 one. Because It was not working they sent me another one which was actually a win 10 key. (I checked with the license utility)
When contacted, the seller has been really rude to me, telling me that there were NO win 11 activation or license on the market and I was not smart enough to understand that. (I just told him about a law that forbid to sell a product with the name of another one)
I'd like to know what to do and especially is he right about what he said?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello.

In general, whether the license is legit or not, it is not legal to sell a product as one thing when it is actually another. This falls under deceptive advertising and could be considered fraud. A few red flags here - Windows 7 license can no longer be used to activate Windows 10 or 11. There are indeed Windows 11 license keys.

You can file a complaint with a consumer protection agency in your country. For example, in the U.S., you might report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

In addition, you can also report to Microsoft via this form: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/howtotell/cfr/report.aspx?rtc=1