Is my standalone photoshop Cs6 extended product real?

[noor_eltahawy]

I had bought a product from topsoftwareshop.com back in 2017. I recently went back to the website to check out my product purchase, cause now that I think about it, I had paid $30.00 USD for the Photoshop Cs6 Extended product (is that even realistic for the price?). The website isn't there anymore, so I Googled searched whether or not my product was real or fake. I came upon this thread, but no one had a real answer to it:

"Hello all.

My mother recently bought CS6 from a website called topsoftwareshop(.)com

I have never heard of this site before so it immediatelly sounded alarm bells when she said it was only $30. To make things more interesting is they used SendOwl for the transaction and sent a 1200kb (EDIT: this may not be the right size. I realize now that I may have looked at the wronge file when checking this ouT.) file via email labeled "Photoshop_13_LS16.exe"

The url to this file is "trials2.adobe.com/adobeproducts...." They ararntly sent a full serial key also.

If someone could help me understand this that would be fantastic.

I know the price is in scam territory, and with the two different merchants (neither of which being adobe) and the file directing to a trial file (which shouldnt be of interest since you can activate to full in program probably).

Does anyone have any experience with this particular form of sale with PS?"

Comments below were:

[–]nightofgrim 21 points 6 months ago

Cancel her card and watch out for viruses.

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[–]dudeedud4 1 point 6 months ago

Well.. it's using shopify so the site /shouldn't/ even get her card info.

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[–]nightofgrim 2 points 6 months ago

Was it really shopify?

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[–]dudeedud4 1 point 6 months ago

I assume so, it's using a shopify store. http://i.imgur.com/7EHAS4j.png

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[–]yungsquimjim 15 points 6 months ago

If I was you I would be happy all I lost was $30. Cut all ties with them and clean out your ma’s computer for her

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[–]_jessup_ 12 points 6 months ago

Well, topsoftwareshop(.)com was only registered on June 26, 2017 and has domain privacy enabled so we don't know who runs it. I certainly wouldn't buy software from an anonymous site that was less than 3 months old.That exe she got by email is most likely ransomware too, so get your mother to back up her photos and other important files to a removable drive (or media) if she doesn't want to lose them forever. Then wipe her PC and install Windows clean from scratch.

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[–]andrej88 3 points 6 months ago

If the URL to the file is on adobe.com then is there reason to worry about the file itself?

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[–]_jessup_ 1 point 6 months ago

What's the full URL? You can legally post it here because it's only the trial version.The warning bell part is that they emailed you a 1200 KB file. That's what we're assuming is the malware. Why would they link you to an Adobe URL but also email you a suspicious exe file? Doesn't make sense.Have you submitted the emailed exe file, plus the one linked to in the URL, to VirusTotal.com for analysis? Please post the scan result links here so we can see.

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[–]andrej88 1 point 6 months ago

I'm not OP FYI, but from the post I understood that they just emailed the link to the file, but /u/bobroxs should confirm

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[–]_jessup_ 1 point 6 months ago*

Sorry, I didn't notice you weren't the OP. But the OP did say that they were "sent a 1200kb file via email", which to me doesn't sound like a link.

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[–]bobroxs[S] 1 point 6 months ago

I may have gotten the file size wrong. I will check when I get home.

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- Essentially, everything about this Forum/Thread is what I'm going through. I had checked my downloaded file: Photoshop_13_LS16 is a 1.17 MB file. What I want to know is, Is my product legitimate? Am I at risk for viruses and malware attacks? What should I do in order to help clean up this mess if I'm in trouble with this purchase and download?

- Thank you!

[Norman Sanders]

Legitimate Photoshop for $30?

No. Not ever. 

[War Unicorn]

norman.sanders  wrote

Legitimate Photoshop for $30?

No. Not ever. 

This.

Well...you can get Photoshop CC for that over the course of a few months...via subscription...but yeah...no perpetual license version ever went for that small of an amount.

[Norman Sanders]

Am I at risk for viruses and malware attacks?

Yes.

What should I do...?

Since it has been downloaded and opened. buy a good anti-virus app (Mac?, PC?) and do a total disc examination. The sooner the better.  Get rid of that bogus software.

[noor_eltahawy]

Thanks, I've got a PC. - what should I be looking for with a disc examination? - I also read I should clean out my computer... I'm at a lost of words right now lool.

[Norman Sanders · Accepted solution]

The first time you install the anti-virus app it will do a total disc scan. If it finds a problem it will alert you and ask for permission to remove the suspect file. Do it. You will probably have the option having the anti-virus app run all the time. Do it. Then, you should be ok. One more thing: from time to time, perhaps even weekly, your anti-virus app will alert you to an update as new viruses hit the internet. Set the software to automatic update.

[War Unicorn]

Adding to what norman said: Damage may have been done to the operating system at the OS level even if you manage to clean it. Usually, the surefire way to cure this is by going "scorched earth" and reformatting the system. Just an FYI in case anything seems amiss later on.

[noor_eltahawy]

Scorched earth! omg... I assume youtube will help me figure that out?

[War Unicorn]

noor.eltahawy  wrote

Scorched earth! omg... I assume youtube will help me figure that out?

Usually, it's just a case of formatting the system. (If you have a later version of Windows, it's relatively easy to do.) It's just time-consuming and you have to be careful to backup any documents you want to keep should they reside on your system. I would hedge a bet there are at least a few videos on YouTube on how to do it.

But as norman said, it's too early to tell if you need that option yet, if ever.

[noor_eltahawy]

Thanks, I'll keep it in mind* - how would I know I need to do "scorched earth"? lol - sorry to be such a bother haha

[Norman Sanders]

Don't scratch until you itch. Run the anti-virus program first. Then, if it reports an uncorrectable problem, you can consider more drastic options.

[Norman Sanders]

If you don't get an anti-virus app recommendation within a couple of hours, post it as a new inquiry asking for recommendations, in case it has been overlooked among these posts. List your PC and Operating System version.

[noor_eltahawy]

Awesome, thank you so much! I assume I should uninstall this "photoshop app for $30" - then run the anti-virus scan - have any idea what are some good anti-virus products to purchase? - I appreciate the help btw, I am sure many other people will find this thread to be useful! lol.

[Norman Sanders]

First rate anti-virus apps? I am a Mac user. Sit tight. You should get suggestions from PC users shortly. Good luck. Too soon to wipe the disc.

[noor_eltahawy]

thanks, it's been installed since December, I just installed it, and never really used it, except for a few times for personal use... but thank you for the help!