Maya lost three years of work. She also lost her biggest client, who discovered their unbuilt hotel design posted on a dark web auction.
Autodesk’s legal team later told her that over 4,000 people had fallen for similar “direct download” pages in 2023. None recovered their files without paying. Some paid and got nothing. autodesk 2023 products direct download links
She watched helplessly as every .rvt , .dwg , and .psd file turned into a .locked extension. The direct links weren’t a gift — they were bait, seeded by a group that scraped forum credentials and targeted freelancers who couldn’t afford legal software. Maya lost three years of work