Uneasy after allowing Bomgar total access during screen share
This is long and I didn't know where to put it but I'm still feeling very uneasy about this Bomgar full access with Adobe help centers. Here goes:
My last week was spent trying to solve the problem of getting Creative Cloud to download and install on my system. This seems to be a recurrent problem with this app but it was the first time I'd experienced it. After spending 2 days trying different solutions found online, I decided to try calling Adobe's help center. I think my first misstep was using an 800 number found on GetHuman. Can anybody confirm if that is actually a legitimate Adobe help center number?
Anyway, frustrated and tired I called the number and explained what the problem was with Creative Cloud. Without asking if I'd tried any of the solutions online, the tech immediately suggested a screen share. In my anxiety to find a solution, I agreed. That's where my unease began. Why? After getting access to my account and full access to my pc, here's what happened:
1) as if I'd called Sprint or T-Mobile, the tech wanted me to complete my phone contact details because it would "help them". That made no sense to me so I said I'd do that later;
2) with the screen share with full access open, he then puts me on hold while he seeks assistance from whoever. He then returns and proceeds to do the same thing I explained I'd been doing repeatedly for the past 48 hours - delete CC and do a reinstall, except he proceeds to try to download not the Adobe Creative Cloud uninstall tool but the recently virus infested CCLeaner. At this point I objected, he does this silly laugh then says he got confused and thought that was what I was referring to when I said I'd used the Creative Cloud Cleaner. Hmmm....
3) He then downloads the Adobe uninstaller, and re-installs CC. The install fails (just as I described). There's more silly laughter and he wants to put me on hold again while he consults with whoever.
4) In the meantime though, he has time to ask me what a green icon on my task tray is. Why is he surveying what's on my pc and asking about it too? Isn't that a little creepy and invasive of customer privacy especially when the tech has no solution to the problem they are supposed to be solving with full access to my pc?
5) With the re-install having failed, I'm fed up and not convinced the tech knows what he's doing. In fact, I'm feeling increasingly as if this is a phishing expedition. Attempts to keep me on the phone and extend his access add to my unease. Plus the sly attempt to suggest a call back which would then give them my phone number to add to my banking / address info to which they have full access.
6) Lastly, after having made that call, the help center info in my account now permanently is linked to that particular help center and phone number. That wasn't the case before I got that number from GetHuman. I find this out this following day when I contact chat from my account and the same exercise kicks in again: I explain my problem and the first solution is: Give us full access. I refuse this time.
Still without a solution and unable to install Creative Cloud (which means I couldn't sync fonts or anything else to Illustrator) I finally cancelled my subscription after 4 years.
So why write all this? My concern is with Adobe not explicitly stating the legitimate phone numbers for the legitimate help centers they are using in India and wherever else. Also why not forewarn customers that their help centers will be using this non-Adobe program, Bomgar to have full access to their computers? What steps are taken to protect customers' information (addresses, banking info etc) when these help centers are given immediate and full access to that info and presumably authorized to ask for more?
This might sound paranoid, but I still have a distinct sense of unease on my own computer since I stupidly allowed that help center to get access. Plus I'm still getting emails from GetHuman about whether my problem was solved. (Does Adobe have some deal with GetHuman or something?)
