So, is that e.mail really a spam?

[_Bran_MacEachaidh_]

I came here because I received an e.mail asking me to provide my log-in details so my forum membership could be updated.

No, I didn't use the link in the e.mail -- not sure what, exactly, but something in the e.mail made me suspicious it was a scam.

But the e.mail said that an interim step had been implemented, so that when I came to the forums I would be greeted with a dialogue asking me to recreate my log-in, and that hasn't happened. So was I right to be cautious? Is this some fast-moving scammer in action?

[Claudio_González1]

I also received a message, but this seems to be complitely legitimate. It doesn't ask for any details but

>we are kindly asking you to please log into your forums account and then follow the prompts to migrate your account. It only takes a few minutes, and by completing this process, your messages will be brought forward into the new system as part of your account history.

[_Bran_MacEachaidh_]

Hmmm, no option to edit my post.

Ahh well, I'll just add this:

I *meant* to say: if it's not a spam, it might be good for the e.mail to be rethought, because the instructions in it as to what will happen when a forum user comes here appear to be incorrect. There's no point in an instructional e.mail being sent out, I think, if it's simply going to add to any confusion or discontent.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

>Hmmm, no option to edit my post.

No, not after someone has replied to the original post/

[_Bran_MacEachaidh_]

Claudio posted:
> I also received a message, but this seems to be complitely legitimate. It doesn't ask for any details...

No, true, mate. But I received one last week (not from Adobe) that appeared just as legitimate, and even went to a completely fake (but authentic-looking) website that had been mocked up to support the scam. I was pretty sure I was following a scam, but I was curious and wanted to see just where it would go. So I followed it in a sandboxed session to find out what they were actually phishing for, and was careful not to give any actual information away or allow any background processes. It was several pages and dialog boxes into the process before they gave themselves away, by saying they wanted to give me a payment for participating in a fairly flimsy "questionnaire" and asking for details to authorise a transaction on my credit card, which of course they claimed would be in my favour.

Obviously I'm not suggesting Adobe would do any such thing. But when this new message claimed to be from Adobe but asked for me to follow a link (to a different domain name than "adobeforums.com", I must point out) and log into my account on its terms -- which would give them my log-in name and password -- I got a bit cautious, and wondered if others with an account on Adobe's forums had also received the message.

Even though you've also received it, Claudio, I don't yet feel reassured, so at this point I guess I'll take my chances on losing my log-in when the big switch-over takes place.

[Guest]

Adobe has had it's forums at adobeforums.com for a lot of years. A number of years ago Adobe bought Macromedia, along with another set of forums supporting that line of products.

Since then, there has been a need to combine both sets of forums so that when someone buys a package that contains both Photoshop and Dreamweaver, for instance, they don't have to go to completely different forums for information and support.

When the Macromedia forums were brought into the Adobe fold, the logins were turned into Adobe accounts, but the old Adobe forums were still stand-alone, the logins were not being associated to anything other then the forum.

What they are doing now, mostly behind the scenes, is linking Adobe side logins to Adobe accounts, hopefully matching individual posts from the same person on both the Adobe side and the Macromedia side posts to the same Adobe account.

What that letter is trying to do is to get people that have posts on the Adobe side to log in to link those posts to an Adobe account, hopefully, again, the same one they use as a login for the Macromedia side forums, if they have posts there as well.

People that only have posts on the Macromedia side should be ok since those are already associated.

Hope that helps explain the why behind the what, and makes sense.

[_Bran_MacEachaidh_]

Hi Dorothy,
Yes, I did understand what Adobe is trying to do. Like many, I imagine, I watched in frustration through the last attempt to merge the Adobe and Macromedia forums, and breathed a sigh of relief when that attempt was quietly retired. But I'd also followed the requests and done the "login and recreate your identity" thang here on the Adobe forums maybe two months ago, so I already knew Adobe was having another try at it all.

What I didn't know, assuming the e.mail was legit, was if it was being sent as a blanket mail-out to everyone with an identity on the Adobe forums, or supposedly only to the people who *hadn't* done the recent login-and-confirm process. As I said, I've already done that.

And then, I didn't know if the e.mail was really a spammer trying to exploit Adobe's efforts to get people to hand over their e.mail address and password (which, as many security commentators point out, most people tend to make the same everywhere they need to use a password on the internet. It's a powerful thing for hackers and/or thieves to have) or, as I said, legit. The fact that it went to a domain that I'd never encountered Adobe using before simply added to my suspicion.

So, did you get the e.mail yourself?

[Guest]

I got one copy, for at least 3 store accounts. But I am prone to clicking the no mail tickbox on anything I register for, so I'm surprised I got any.

I always scrutinize emails that I get, including that one, and I don't click on links until I know where they are going to take me. And, you're right, you can't just look at the first part to see what domain it's going to... you have to look at the whole thing, including, and perhaps especially, the entire underlying link... rather then the text that is hyperlinked. All kinds of sneaky snake baddies out there preying on people. If I have any question, I'll often google parts of the email to see if other people are talking about it on the 'net. That is surprisingly efficient.

[Guest]

Are they doing it by locality? The only thing I got from Adobe in the last few days was an invitation to buy one of the suites.

[LHTman]

I got the email regarding migrating Adobe Forums. I tried to migrate but the ANNOYING form would not accept the email address I have used for a dozen years. I tried for assistance and the chat assistant said the e-mail form migration email was not from Adobe and I should delete it.

Adobe has a big problem with this. I can't be the only customer who is turned off by this unforgivable waste of my time.

I will just let the forum go.

[Guest]

I don't know how they set it up or what criteria they used for where and when to send. My best guess would be that they sent them all at once to email addresses registered to this forum that did not indicate that they do not want to receive email from Adobe.

[_Bran_MacEachaidh_]

Interesting, Leland. Sorry to hear you're having grief with it all -- did it give any reason for not accepting your e.mail address? -- but thank you for confirming that the e.mail *isn't* being sent by Adobe.

Come to think of it -- and I honestly didn't realise it before -- the copy I got of the e.mail was sent to an older address, which (for the moment) still arrives in the same inbox. It wasn't sent to the address Adobe currently has in my profile.

So someone's been doing a bit of harvesting, it would seem.

I think it might have helped if Adobe, since they obviously are aware there's a spam going on in their name, had posted a general alert to the forums to say "Don't follow that particular trail of breadcrumbs, or you'll end up at the witch's cottage".

[Guest]

If I wanted to alert users I would simply tell them to go to the forums in the normal way and take the needed action.

Links in an email are always suspect.

[Guest]

Leland, in all likelihood, the chat assistant knew nothing about that mail having been sent (left hand, right hand problems), and took the easy path of suggesting you ignore it. It is legit tho, whether the forum people told them to expect it or not.

[John_Cornicello_Photo]

Here is the email that should have gone out to people who have not logged into the forums in some time who might lose their message history if they don't log in and associate/migrate their forum account to their Adobe ID. It should include two links that point to direct.adobe.com. The first one resolves to http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?15 and the other to the new Preview Forum at http://adobeforums.adobe.com/index.jspa

- - - - -

Hello,
As you may have already heard, there are changes coming soon to the Adobe User to User Forums. In response to community feedback, we are incorporating many user-requested features into Adobe Forums and also making changes to the underlying technology to improve the overall user experience.

As a valued contributor who has posted messages previously in the Adobe Forums, we are kindly asking you to please log into your forums account and then follow the prompts to migrate your account. It only takes a few minutes, and by completing this process, your messages will be brought forward into the new system as part of your account history.

Once the existing forums have been converted to the new system, you will no longer be able to migrate your old User to User Forums account. Even though this process is optional, we encourage you to migrate your account so that your authoring history and message count will be accurate.

To complete this short migration process, please log into your account using your current User to User Forums account and password. During this process, you will be asked to create a new Adobe ID or sign in with an Adobe ID if you already have one. This Adobe ID will be used to sign in once the new Adobe Forums are live in April 2009.
We are also inviting all of our users to preview the new Adobe Forums. Please note that this is a preview area only and any new content posted there will be deleted when the new system comes online in April.

Thank you!

Adobe Forums Team

- - - -

John

[Kath-H]

Except I got it :)

[Kath-H]

Come to think of it, I got an email from a digital photg site the other day addressed to Dear Adobe_user.

[John_Cornicello_Photo]

Kath, do you have more than one forum account? I got a copy of it, too. I figure that came in because I have an alternate email address that is registered here, but I rarely post with it.

There is someone registered under the name Kath Howard.

John

[Kath-H]

Ah, that would explain it. I've been very lazy in the past and let my computer remember passwords for these forums - then I change computer or get logged out for some reason and have to start again. The machines that know the passwords for Kath Howard and Kath Howard2 are defunct. I now use passwords I can remember ;)

So yes, I have two defunct accounts, and I also have a work account.