There have been a rash of email messages appearing in email inboxes in recent days claiming to be notifications of updates to Adobe Acrobat and Skype. Similar messages have appeared in the past claiming to be from Microsoft, Apple and others.
These notices are ploys to trick the recipient into following a link to a third party application site offering downloads of knock-offs of the official programs.
Do not click these links! Downloading unofficial editions of real software can often lead to infestations of Trojan Horses, Viruses, key-loggers, and other malware on your company PCs.
Here is an example of the “Skype 2011” notification:
Bogus “Skype” Notification (click to zoom)
Note the signature allegedly from “Alex Anderson” of the “Skype Support Center” accompanied by bogus URLs which do not lead to Skype’s official site. Many of the “major new features” listed are features found within Skype since its inception.
Here is an example of the “Adobe 2011” offer:
Bogus “Acrobat” Notification (click to zoom)
Note the signature allegedly from “John Watt” of the “Adobe Acrobat Reader Support” accompanied by bogus URLs which do not lead to the Adobe Acrobat Reader official site. This particular message is also very easy to identify as a fake thanks the the spelling and formatting errors.
Again, do not be taken in by these links. Always visit the software vendor’s site directly for news of updates, or use the program’s built-in updating tools to ensure you’re running the latest releases.
When in doubt, throw that message out!
The Official Adobe Acrobat Reader X for both Windows and Mac can be downloaded from: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
The Official Skype for Windows and Mac can be downloaded from: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/