I was asked to repost this here:
...I got a "Licensing for this product has stopped working" message when I tried opening both Dreamweaver CS4 and Photoshop CS4 after erasing my hard drive, reinstalling OS X 10.10.4 and restoring data. I got a reply to my query from someone called Help_Desk_ who wanted to communicate via Skype. The email address is odd: jive-1227772368-39d36-1swlb2-q49@adobe-v7.hosted.jivesoftware.com - is this a legitimate support person?...
I answered not realizing at that moment I was getting into a seriously compromising situation - (I missed the second "_" in the name). I don't think the intent of this individual was malicious, rather I think he was in the reselling business, trolling the forums for potential "customers" - what transpired was that I was directed to Skype, and in the guise of offering help I was offered an upgrade from CS4 to CS6 at a very low cost - that should have made me thank him and back away. I foolishly proceeded - in the end a complete version of CS6 was downloaded and installed on my computer - and it worked! - I had a functional trial version - for which I would get the SN when I paid - here's where I got nervous and suspicious - payment was to an individual in India (I have full details I can provide). My credit card payment was refused by Western Union fortunately. I was supposed to make payment in person at a Western Union store - which I couldn't do until the next day.
As soon as the conversation ended I realized what had transpired. I took several actions: changed my Adobe password, my computer password, cancelled my credit card, and changed a couple of other bits of information I know I revealed! As far as I can tell he didn't leave any malware behind. When he contacted me today I explained that I had uninstalled CS 6, reinstalled CS4 and that I would not be making payment of any kind. He wanted to know what he had done to offend me - I explained I was uncomfortable with the transaction and decided not to go through with it.
I have to say the pitch was seductive - my CS4 is getting to the end of its life on my iMac (OS X 10.10.5). I have been able to restore some of CS4 (Dreamweaver was one of the components I wanted to use) although I can't seem to restore others from the original install discs - Photoshop does not want to reinstall, for example (I can't get passed the first disc - when I'm asked to insert the second disc the install stalls!). I don't use either program enough to warrant a cloud subscription - in fact it's been months since I had any need of Dreamweaver but two days ago I had to open a site created with it for the content of some of the files - which is when I ran into the "Licensing for this product has stopped working" (A result of erasing my hard drive, reinstalling and upgrading the OS, restoring the data from a Time Machine backup). I was lured into pursuing the conversation because I wanted a more reliable version of the software that would work with the OS for a while longer. However, in the end, I was not sending money to India for what had to be bootlegged (although functional) software.
So I'm pointing out to readers you need to be cautious about the help being offered in the Forums and being lured into conversations that could be risky. I think I've come out of this one OK, and will certainly be much more careful in future.
[Title edited to add more warning information... Mod]
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