Virus Alert

Some of us have had a security message stating that there is a serious problem/virus issue when pulling up this site. This is a scam that will direct you to a company that will ask for a credit card number to repair your computer, don't fall for it. This happens from time to time on the web, and is not coming from us.

You can close your browser and navigate back to our site, you may have to do it more than once, and then eventually, it will go away. I have checked on our server admin. and there is nothing that our site is generating.

Pete

Thanks for the update, Pete.

Thanks to BobH & Worcester for letting us know.

It got to me - so I just shut down for about 3 hrs - all clear now. I always consider those alerts to be bogus and shut down for a couple hours. If I can't get a clean return I turn it over to my computer expert. It keeps me out of trouble.

swish

Swish,

These things plant themselves between you,and where you want to go.( I can hear Jeb now "like a snake in the grass, on the way to the cabin"

They look real, and can scare people into thinking they have a serious problem.

Pete

pete wrote:Some of us have had a security message stating that there is a serious problem/virus issue when pulling up this site. This is a scam that will direct you to a company that will ask for a credit card number to repair your computer, don't fall for it. This happens from time to time on the web, and is not coming from us.

You can close your browser and navigate back to our site, you may have to do it more than once, and then eventually, it will go away. I have checked on our server admin. and there is nothing that our site is generating.

Pete

                                    Thanks. I have been staying off the site because of that warning

Pete, I think it is somehow associated with the site, as it only appears when I go to Sam's mobile site. Sometimes it occurs when I click on a post, and sometimes it pops up even when I just try and resize the screen. It only happens here, so I am pretty sure it is somehow related to the site.

jr, no reason to stay off the site.

Shamrock, if that were true everyone would have seen the message. There are quite a few members who have never seen it. I saw it twice, closed my browser and never saw it again.

I use a PC, a Kindle and an iPad to access this site and I have never had any of these issues.

Having said that . . .

I AM NOW DOOMED!!!

gyso

pete wrote:jr, no reason to stay off the site.

Shamrock, if that were true everyone would have seen the message. There are quite a few members who have never seen it. I saw it twice, closed my browser and never saw it again.

I have never gotten it on another site. Not once. I get it almost every time I use the mobile site (note: even on mobile, I am viewing the site the way it looks on a PC). Others may not be seeing it for a number of reasons, including: 1) they are not using the mobile site; 2) they have anti-malware installed on their phones/tablets; 3) the browser they are using is not as vulnerable (I use chrome on my Android). It is not uncommon for sites to get infected - so many streaming sites are infected, as they try and get you to install some media player that harbors malware.

It's not a huge deal, since I just close the tab and start again, but I really think there is something going on with the mobile site.

Is this just happening on people's phones or is it also happening on PC's, tablets, macbooks, etc.?

If it is just phones (mobile) then maybe it is tied into the newest update.

gyso

I checked all devices I use; PC, Android and Mac, and can't find this one.

No report of it with Forumotion, the group that hosts this forum.

I wonder if those affected have any other common sites visited, or links followed from a post on this site? That could explain it since there doesn't appear to be any direct link to this forum at this time.

Best protection is keeping anti-virus software/apps active on your devices. AVG and Malwarebytes are two of many free programs available.

If anyone is still having this issue (or if you had this issue), please report it on this thread.  Please include:

1. Device type
2. Browser type
3. Screenshot (if possible) or
4. Description of popup
5. Anything else you can think of that we can report to Forumotion
6. Approximately when did this start?

Thanks,

gyso

Does the warning screen look like this:

No, it is generic alert and does not mention the forum.

Just got hit again. I called my computer guy and he thinks that its caused by a rogue add that I probably passed over. He suggested that I google "ad block plus" a free add on. Added this site to my computer and was able to get right onto Sam's. I'll monitor to see if it solves the problem.

swish

My IT guy here thought it was probably something from outside the forum too.

I treated his thoughts with caution, however.  He's a Knicks fan.

gyso's request that anyone encountering this problem report it here is important. If by any remote chance something has been tracking the forum, we'll want to put an end to it fast.

The problems are pretty bad for me today.
I am having problems whether I am on Explorer, Chrome or my iphone.
This is the only website I have issues with.

tjmakz wrote:The problems are pretty bad for me today.
I am having problems whether I am on Explorer, Chrome or my iphone.
This is the only website I have issues with.

TJ,

We actually need more info, with the specifics that I posted above. I am also going to add question #6 to go with the other 5, Approximately when did this start?

Thanks,

gyso

gyso wrote:If anyone is still having this issue (or if you had this issue), please report it on this thread.  Please include:

1. Device type
2. Browser type
3. Screenshot (if possible) or
4. Description of popup
5. Anything else you can think of that we can report to Forumotion
6. Approximately when did this start?

Thanks,

gyso

Also helpful would be any reports by those who are not affected by this issue.  We are trying to see if there is any trend to this.

In that vein, here is my report:

PC laptop / Microsoft Edge browser / No problems yet.

and

Kindle Tablet / Silk browser / No problems yet.

and

iPad tablet / Safari browser / No problems yet.

Thanks in advance,

gyso

gyso wrote:

gyso wrote:If anyone is still having this issue (or if you had this issue), please report it on this thread.  Please include:

1. Device type
2. Browser type
3. Screenshot (if possible) or
4. Description of popup
5. Anything else you can think of that we can report to Forumotion
6. Approximately when did this start?

Thanks,

gyso

Also helpful would be any reports by those who are not affected by this issue.  We are trying to see if there is any trend to this.

In that vein, here is my report:

PC laptop / Microsoft Edge browser / No problems yet.

and

Kindle Tablet / Silk browser / No problems yet.

and

iPad tablet / Safari browser / No problems yet.

Thanks in advance,

gyso

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Did it for a day on my work PC.   THEN IT STOPPED . NO PROBLEM AT HOME OR ON PHONE

jrleftfoot wrote:Did it for a day on my work PC.   THEN IT STOPPED . NO PROBLEM AT HOME OR ON PHONE

Thanks for the quick reply, but we would like to see specifics.

Thanks,

gyso

gyso wrote:If anyone is still having this issue (or if you had this issue), please report it on this thread.  Please include:

1. Device type
2. Browser type
3. Screenshot (if possible) or
4. Description of popup
5. Anything else you can think of that we can report to Forumotion
6. Approximately when did this start?

Thanks,

gyso

Hey Gyso,

1. Device type = Galaxy Note 5
2. Browser = Chrome
3. Screenshot = see below
4. Description = the first image below appears initially, when I hit ok, it goes to the second image. At this point, I simply close the tab and try again. Note that the url associated with the second image is not from google (i guess that is obvious)
5. Anything else you can think of = hmmm, not sure. Seems to be getting worse. It might indeed be from one of the ads associated with the site - maybe I accidentally pass over it while resizing or something. Note also that although I'm on my phone when it happens, I am using the appearance of the website as it appears on my PC (I'm just used to this...).
6. When did this start = it's been going on for quite awhile. It originated before the update, and has continued through the update.

The following message appears intially:



When I click ok, the following webpage appears:



Note: lest my stellar reputation be besmirched, I want to declare that I do not look at porn (at least not on my phone...)

Thanks, Shamrock.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the url in the aggresive pop-up is android-safe.com. I did a little research on it, and think it might be related to the following:

http://www.stayprotected.com/2014/01/google-android-safe-com-virus-pop-up/

Google-android-safe.com virus warning pop ups on Android
January 23, 2014Adware
Beware of new misleading pop ups from http://update.google-android-safe.com that have recently started to occur on eBay. I bet similar misleading virus pop ups will occur on other websites as well but probably with slightly modified or completely different warnings. The latest pop ups say that your phone or tablet is infected with viruses. Here’s an example:

Warning:Your phone has (13) Virus!

The Virus may comput you date .

Please follow instructions to remove Virus

update.google-android-safe.com pop up

It’s nothing new really and it even has typos. The main goal of this fake virus warning is to scare you into thinking that your phone is infected with viruses. If you click OK you will be redirected to Google Play to download a security app called 360 Security. It’s a free antivirus app developed by Qihu 360 Software Co., LTD based in China. Of course, it doesn’t mean that other users will be redirected to the same product but at least for me it was the 360 Security app. The app was recently updated and even though it has many positive reviews, more than 40,000 gave it 1-2 starts rating complaining about memory usage, unethical advertising and some users even say it’s a fake app. Since it’s promoted in such a questionable way, I wouldn’t use it. Besides, there are many great apps from well known and trusted antivirus vendors.

In case you are constantly getting fake update.google-android-safe.com pop-ups on your phone or tablet, go to device’s Settings menu > Apps or Application manager (this may differ depending on your device). Uninstall apps that may display these pop-ups. Most likely, your device is infected with adware that displays fake virus warning from google-android-safe.com.

I just went to android-safe-app.com, and it does seem to link to a site where you can download the 360 security app mentioned in the article above.