Adobe anti-piracy initiative

Other online threats

When somebody is offering to sell you something they clearly don’t have the rights to sell, you have to wonder what they’re going to do with your personal and financial information. Beware of:

Phishing and spoofing
Spam e-mail

Phishing and spoofing

Phishing is the illegal practice of tricking consumers into providing personal information that can then be used for identity theft and other illegal activities. Spoofing is a common tactic in phishing scams. While spam e-mail is relatively easy to spot, spoof e-mails are much trickier. The e-mail claims to be from a reputable company with whom you may do business, and it will direct you to a website where you will be asked to provide personal information, such as name, address, account numbers, and so on. Any information you enter may be captured and used by criminals.

How to spot spoof e-mails

Spoof e-mails often contain a more generic greeting than you would expect from a company that already has your personal information.

Spoof e-mails claim that your information has been compromised, that your account has been frozen, or that you need to confirm the authenticity of your transactions.

Spoof e-mails may direct you to counterfeit websites that are carefully designed to look real but that actually collect personal information for illegal use.

In addition to links to counterfeit websites, some fake e-mails also include links to legitimate websites. Phishers do this in an attempt to make a fake e-mail appear real. Even so, never provide personal information based on the request of an unsolicited e-mail: No legitimate business would take this approach today.

How to avoid phishing scams

Any time you receive an unprompted e-mail asking you to confirm personal information online, call the company to check the validity of the request.

Never rely on the phone number in the e-mail to verify the source of the e-mail. Use the numbers you have in your personal records, or check the phone book.

While some e-mails are easy to identify as fraudulent, others may appear to be from a legitimate address and trusted online source. You should not rely on the name or address in the From field, as this is easily altered.

Never provide personal information based on the request of an unsolicited e-mail, even if the site it links you to looks authentic.

Be assured that Adobe will never send e-mail containing attachments or require customers to send personal information to us through e-mail or pop-up windows. Any unsolicited request for Adobe account information you receive through e-mails, websites, or pop-up windows should be considered fraudulent. Please notify piracy@adobe.com of any suspicious activity.

Spam e-mail

Have you ever noticed how much spam e-mail you get every day? Have you ever taken the time to look at what that spam is trying to persuade you to do? If not, you might be surprised to find out just how many of those spam e-mails are offering what appears to be authentic software — at incredibly low prices. Prices that are, indeed, too good to be true.

The risks of spam

Responding to spam e-mail can be extremely risky. Between unscrupulous online retailers who abuse your credit card details, phishers who trick you into providing personal information, and software pirates who sell incomplete or virus-laden software, there are plenty of criminals out there looking to take advantage of you. That’s why Adobe recommends you avoid the headache by never responding to spam e-mails offering to sell you software.

Caution

Beware of software shipping to the United States from overseas.
Beware of any offer requesting you to wire money to foreign banking institutions.
Check a website’s security credentials before giving out credit card information, which may be recorded and sold to support identity theft.

Adobe has an active Internet anti-piracy program and our own anti-piracy enforcement specialists who investigate the sources of spam e-mail offers. We are doing everything in our power to stop this kind of activity and to protect our customers. Your decision not to interact with spammers represents a very real contribution to the mission of shutting them down.

Adobe also works to educate consumers about the risks of getting software from suspicious sources. Purchasing from known and trusted sources is the best way to avoid risks. Find a list of Adobe Authorized Resellers.