Hey Melissa,
You mentioned that you paid, but we don't charge for Flash Player. It's a free download. What, specifically, did you buy?
If you bought Flash Player, you *didn't* buy it from Adobe. Because Flash is widely used, it's a target for impostors, and malicious ads will sometimes offer fake pop-ups that try to trick you into downloading something.
From what you're describing, that seems to be the case, and it implies that you have a couple problems to deal with:
- You gave your credit card number to some sketchy actors. I'd recommend checking your bank statement and having a conversation with your bank if that's the case. This is particularly true if you used a debit card. You'll want a new card number (and you're way better off using a regular credit card for online purchases in case something bad happens. It's harder to get your money back with a debit card.).
- Also, you probably downloaded something that wasn't actually Flash Player (i.e. malware), which means that you'll probably want to go about backing up any important data and getting your computer back to a known-good state. It also means that you probably want to change your passwords for important things like email, banking, etc., once you get that infection cleaned out. If you can, enable two-factor authetication on your email and bank accounts as well.
In terms of the school message board, you might just want to use Google Chrome, since Flash is a built-in component in that browser. There's nothing separate to download or install, and you can't really misconfigure it.
Sorry about the headache, but you should definitely deal with it before it becomes a bigger, expensive problem. If your school offers helpdesk support (most do), they might be a good resource for getting things squared away.
Good luck!
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