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dD_Mb
New Participant
November 12, 2015
Question

Skype Scam Alert in Community Forums

  • November 12, 2015
  • 7 replies
  • 8272 views

This is an email I sent to Adobe technical support.

I posted in the community forums about the whereabouts of the Adobe Premiere Elements 12 download location for Windows 64 bit. Soon after, a user named "Customer Service!" (without quotes) privately messaged me the following

Hi!
We apologize for the inconvenience caused we will help you out to resolve the problem which you are facing for further assistance provide us your Skype ID and Telephone Number so our one of the support person will contact you!

Note:-For reply go to adobe forums Inbox and reply for the same Message!
Or
Note:-For reply go to Your E-mail Account Inbox and reply on the same Email!

Thanks & Regards
Adobe Help And Support

I don't have a recovery phone number for my account so I gave him or her one that didn't matter, and I don't have skype. I recently had a very pleasant experience with online chat customer service with Adobe, so this already was completely odd. I knew this was probably a scam, so I played along a little. He or she persisted. Customer Service! sent another message:

Kindly setup skype its   free search on google and provide your skype id so support person will contact you Immediately!

I made a skype name off the top of my head and sent the user ID to Customer Service! He or she replied:

Thanks  we have send you the requets on  skype kindly add us for further communication!

Once on skype, it was obvious that this was a scammer. This was not a video call, it was just a chat. The skype avatar was an Adobe logo. I attached the conversation. I even tried to initiate a phone call/video chat. It was outright rejected.

I think that users of the forums should be notified that when questions are posted to trust answers only given in the posts and be warned that customer help responses in private messages should be treated as suspect of scams outright. I love Adobe products, and I know that less savvy users of the forums might fall prey to these types of scams. See the attachment for the Skype conversation in which I baited the scam artist for all the red flags. He or she is allegedly from Brooklyn, New York according to Skype.

[1:40:36 PM] *** Help And Support would like to add you on Skype (note that Help and Support's avatar on Skype was an Adobe logo)

Hi Dominic Gonzalez, I'd like to add you as a contact. ***

[1:40:47 PM] *** Dominic Gonzalez has shared contact details with Help And Support. ***

[1:41:05 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: added

[1:41:29 PM] Help And Support: hi

[1:41:33 PM] Help And Support: how we can help you today?

[1:42:39 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: well, I recently changed my email over to this new one, and had my license for Premiere Elements 12 changed over too. But the download link for the WIndows English version is gone. I tried downloading v13 and v14 and using the serial but obviously this didn't work.

[1:42:59 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: I'm clearly not doing something right here or maybe something went wrong when my license was transfered

[1:43:49 PM] Help And Support: stay online

[1:43:52 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: okay

[1:45:44 PM] Help And Support: we certainly help you to get issue resolved

[1:45:51 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: awesome!

[1:45:52 PM] Help And Support: provide your adobe id and password so we can check?

[1:48:07 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: hang on

[1:48:16 PM] Help And Support: sure

[1:49:55 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: how come you didn't respond to me through the regular customer service interface?

[1:50:34 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: and why would you need my password to check?

[1:50:59 PM] Help And Support: We not required your personal password

[1:51:04 PM] Help And Support: either serial number if you have?

[1:51:28 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: oh okay, hang on

[1:52:09 PM] Help And Support: sure

[1:54:02 PM] *** Call to Help And Support, busy.

Send video message ***

[1:54:14 PM] Help And Support: chat support available as of now

[1:54:36 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: oh okay my bad. I accidentally clicked the wrong button

[1:54:43 PM] Dominic Gonzalez: hold on a few minutes

I blocked them and reported this to Adobe. Just beware that anyone contacting you as Adobe tech support through the private message system or Skype instead of through the public channels is not genuine. I baited this person out to report it to Adobe. Here is the evidence. I've dealt with a lot of scammers, and they aren't stupid--not even this one. Scammers are serious criminals and should not be taken lightly. The moment you think a scammer is a dumb criminal is the moment you let your guard down. Here is the evidence that they are lurking the forums.

      This topic has been closed for replies.

      7 replies

      S
      Sistemas Joia
      New Participant
      July 28, 2016

      I've been contacted too.

      try67
      try67
      Braniac
      July 28, 2016

      Thank you for reporting them. They will be banned soon.

      X
      xes30130184
      New Participant
      September 9, 2016

      I believe I have been too. Thank you so much everyone for posting here. How can we tell if this is a scam? I got the same request...and have asked for a phone number in order to call them. They provided one, but how can I tell if it is a real Adobe support number?

      A
      Anonymous
      July 6, 2016

      Thank you to let us know. I would send his IP address to admin to block him. People who are new in this can be victim.

      T
      teresam63453646
      Participating Frequently
      July 4, 2016

      Thank you...I will make that change.

      mytaxsite
      mytaxsite
      Inspiring
      July 5, 2016

      What amazes me is that people are still falling for scam messages, emails, phone-calls etc in 2016.  The email in post#19 is from someone using outlook.com.  This should be a trigger point because Adobe is not hard up to use free email accounts on Microsoft.  Adobe is a multi-billion pound business and they have got their own email addresses.

      John T Smith
      John T Smith
      Braniac
      July 5, 2016

      I think this is a case of "any port in a storm" where someone is so upset due to a problem that they do not pay close attention when "someone, anyone" offers help

      About the same as someone who doesn't pay attention to where they are, and posts a message "anywhere" instead of finding the correct forum for their question

      T
      teresam63453646
      Participating Frequently
      July 4, 2016

      Ok, I did change my password.

      Here's his id:

      Help.Robert Selden

      our team send you the message over skype once you will be available come online and chat with our team

      Can you get him? I feel so stupid. I did read the post and that's what put me on to it but I wasn't sure. Thanks for your response. He now has my full name, address and phone number.
      T
      teresam63453646
      Participating Frequently
      July 4, 2016

      Here's the email I just received..I am posting this to help others recognize a scam before I did...

      Order Information

      People

      To

      Message body

      try67
      try67
      Braniac
      July 4, 2016

      Make sure you also change the password in any other accounts you have, if you used the same one.

      A
      Anonymous
      February 25, 2016

      This JUST happened to me, like RIGHT NOW!! I was waiting for someone named Adobe_Peter Maeck to message me on Skype. His email is forums_noreply@adobe.com

      Can't believe it! WOW!

      Thanks for making this post!!

      MadisonLeupp
      Community Manager
      MadisonLeuppCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      February 25, 2016

      Hi Ayanna,

      Thank you so much for reporting! We're glad you didn't share any private information with the scammer.

      I've deactivated this user.

      Thanks,

      Madison

      A
      ajid53633199
      New Participant
      March 4, 2016

      I had a similar experience today

      The details:

      Justin Graham.Adobe from email id: forums_noreply@adobe.com

      skype id: adobesystems_24x7

      Please deactivate the user

      O`Leg
      O`Leg
      New Participant
      January 13, 2016

      Another one: Adobe_Rick Jackson uses SkypeID adobesystems_24x7

      MadisonLeupp
      Community Manager
      MadisonLeuppCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      November 12, 2015

      Hi Dominic,

      Thank you so much for reporting this here- I have deactivated this user. We're very glad that you realized this was a scammer and did not share any personal information. We have been trying to educate customers about this risk- we have an alert in our Guidelines and many individual spaces have announcement alerts: Community Guidelines Thank you for posting here to increase awareness even more.

      Thanks,
      Madison

      lawn45365531
      lawn45365531
      New Participant
      January 3, 2016

      thanks for your post.  i've been contacted by someone called "michael.Adobe" and he did the same thing to me via skype.  and of coz i didn't pass him my password.

      John T Smith
      John T Smith
      Braniac
      January 3, 2016

      Thanks... I have reported to Staff to have him banned

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