Contacted Adobe chat support but was instantly asked to provide remote access (is this normal?)

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
July 6, 2021
3 replies
5377 views

Since reinstalling CC on a newly formatted computer, all options to download previous versions of my apps is no longer available anywhere inside of CC. As a result, I contacted Adobe via chat, though I can't remember where I found the chat on the adobe website. I went through the support links dozens of times continually getting nowhere. I "think" it was from within my creative cloud apps panel on the website, but I honestly can't say for sure.

Anyway, after getting through to someone who I assume was in India based on their name, and explaining that the option for previous versions was missing, their first suggestion was to allow them remote access, to which I said no. Then they said that's fine, and asked me to do what I'd already been trying to do for the past few hours, and upon getting nowhere, asked me again to provide remote access, to which I declined a second time. They gave me several links from within the chat to download CC uninstaller, and then to reinstall CC. I didn't click either of the links (as nobody should, ever) but found both CC uninstaller and CC myself from within the official Adobe website. Unfortunately my problem wasn't solved, but before ending the chat I asked the support person, for my own curiousity's sake, how Adobe support gets remote access to customer PCs. They said via a program called Bomgar, to which I then asked whether that was a file the customer must download first to give them access, at which time the support person hung up on me (DC'd the chat).

Firstly, giving anyone access to your PC should in almost all cases be a flat out "No", though this person was so eager on multiple occasions to get access to mine. Other forum posts I've seen online from people claiming that support staff from within the actual Adobe support chat, had them provide their phone numbers which then had them called by phone scammers, has, no doubt, made me somewhat uncomfortable.

Ultimately I'd like to know whether I was speaking to a legitimate Adobe support representative, or not. Our chat conversation was mirrored both on the Adobe CC website and also from within my CC desktop app, which leads me to believe that it was probably Adobe support staff, but again, other forum posts make it sounds like Adobe support is riddled with scammers masquerading as actual staff, hijacking both the phone calls and the online support. Also, from within account.adobe.com, I can indeed see a record of my problem from earlier today.

My final question to anyone that may know, is whether or not the CC desktop app natively allows any kind of remote connection, or if a user must download some kind of third party remote access software (bomgar or otherwise), to give these people access to their computers.

When your entire business is run from a single PC, you can't be too cautious or too careful.

Thank you for any help provided.

F

FeralHousewife

Participant

I just had the same happen to me.... damn scammers. Im like ablsoluetely not.... to which they got pissy and refused to do much else for me.

Amitej S

Community Manager

Hi @FeralHousewife, if you've reached out to Adobe-assisted support or chat support via this link and then received an email as shared in screenshots above, then it's legitimate. If you've any email or screenshot to show us, we can verify if it was actual Adobe support or something else.

O

Old and Dazed

Participant

I just was on chat with support and also was asked about remote access. Unfortunately, I agreed...maybe because i am old and was so frustrated with adobe and trying to install things. I almost had a nervous breakdown when the login page to my bank opened and I could not get control of the mouse to close it. This happened twice and I told him to stop opening it as soon as I was able to click on chat to type. He told me that it had opened automatically on default or something like that. I told him that I had closed it twice already! I was so upset that I shut my pc off because I couldn't get control of my mouse to keep him out of my personal stuff. Now I am worried! I saw him go into all of my pc securities etc. I went back in and changed some passwords and my pc name that he had looked at. How am I supposed to trust these guys helping me?

Tarun Saini

Community Manager

Hi

@Old and Dazed

,

I’m sorry to hear about this troubling experience. Your privacy and security should always be a top priority, and feeling out of control during a remote session is deeply unsettling.

Here are a few immediate steps to help ensure your system’s security and provide peace of mind:

Change all important passwords: Since the session raised concerns, it’s wise to update passwords for your online accounts, especially for sensitive ones like banking or email.
Run a security check: Perform a thorough scan with trusted antivirus software to ensure there’s no unwanted activity or programs installed.
Contact Adobe Support: Reach out to Adobe directly to report this issue. Adobe has strict policies, and they will want to ensure your experience is investigated. I'd recommend reaching out to and working with our support directly as a next step. They can be reached here: https://adobe.ly/4anvJ6W

Regards,

Tarun

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

What was the support call reference (please post no other personal info). This could be verified, though Adobe staff are rarely here to do that.

User91056456Author

Participant

Thanks for the reply, @Test Screen Name .

Because I don't know what's contained in the case reference number, I'd rather not share it publicly. The case definitely is documented in my Adobe account support history, though, alongside another issue I had several years ago. I also received an email from "Adobe Customer Care <customercare-chatsupport@adobe.com>" that reads -

Greetings from adobe!!
This email is regards to your open case. Your case is still open, and we want to be sure your issue has been resolved. Please let us know after updating the windows are you able to see the option to download the older version. If not then please contact us back https://helpx.adobe.com/in/contact.html However, you can provide us the Phone number, Preferred time to call & Time Zone so that we can easily get connect with you in order to provide you a resolution to fix the issue. Please let us know if you need more help or would like to provide additional information.

The number of grammatical errors in the email though, supposedly coming from the biggest name in the industry, certainly throws me off somewhat. Regardless, if my chat with this person was simultaneously accessible both through my browser where I initiated it, and also in my CC desktop app, would it be safe to assume that this was a legitimate member of Adobe's support team? Or is the CC desktop app known to be hijacked by scammers masquerading as Adobe support staff?

Also curious on my other question about whether or not CC has any kind of built in function that permits "support staff" to gain remote access to a user's PC from within the desktop app itself (the way Windows does), or if remote access can solely be gained via the installation of a third party application.

Thanks again.