fake scanner scam advert

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it happens on ocassion, and from what I understand, it depends on the keyword that brings up the ad that trigers it. Some might not ever get it, others might have it pop up all the time. It has almost nothing to do with what browser you use, but if you have a ad blocker installed, then you will never get it, so it wouldnt apply.

I dont mean to offend you in any way, but it is probably best to read the thread before you give advice.
You ONLY need to scan for the virus if you follow the popup, by clicking on it and download the virus to your computer. If you were to get this virus on your computer, non of what you are saying to do will work, not even the least little bit.

If you were to get the virus version of this on your computer, it will be VERY apparent that you have it, as it will disable most everything and wont let you do much of anything with your computer. If you get it, your best bet is to boot into safe mode, and run a program called "malwarebytes", and also run your virus scanner.

I just had it happen to me again, so this time I took some screenshots and did a little more investigating.

If you let the scanner run threw its fast scan, a box pops up saying it found all these viruses on your computer
screenshot

If you click on the "remove all", the download dialog will come up, asking you to download the virus
screenshot

If you click cancel on the box that shows the viruses, another box will come up saying that your computer is running slow, to click okay to continue (since it was a windows box, I didnt click okay to see what it did, although I imagine it would bring up the download box again)
screenshot

If you click the back button at any time, another box will come up, again another windows OK or cancel box, trying to cancel or close that box will just bring up another one, also preventing you from closing your browser, and making it imposible to do anything but click "OK"
screenshot

At that point, and any point threwout it while using IE, the only way to exit your browser is to use ctrl+alt+del to close it from the taskmanager.
For the people who fall for it, it IS the very nasty "Vista Internet Security 2010" virus, that will disable your firewall and download ten other viruses, etc, and will require a reboot into safe mode to remove. Luckily that virus is fixable without having to do a full reformat, but unfortantly, most people dont know how to remove it, and will probably end up paying someone to fix it

If you did happen to get the virus, since Alex dosent seem to respond or care to fix it, you can send your computer repair bills to Alex Plank, Yellow Sneakers Media, 9416 Wrought Iron Court
Fairfax, VA 22032 (the address he has at the bottom of the site)

It also happened to me and it said something about malware and started the scan. I just clicked out of it and went back to this place.

I didn't get that kind what you showed roadracer. But I have gotten it before but this time it was different.

I got that same virus at deviantart thought and it stuck to my computer and I was unable to use the internet. Even our virus scanner couldn't find it to remove it so I restored the desktop and it was gone. I didn't even ask to scan it or anything. It just did it on it's own and I tried to click out of it and it kicked me off the internet and I was unable to browse it again. I wouldn't let me view other websites. Instead it was trying to make me buy the darn program.

Do you think Alex is going to pay us back for our bill or was that a joke? Or is that to get him to be aware of this and to get him to do something about it?

I am deeply surprised that the fake virus scanner popped up today without my Norton Antivirus picking up on it. It has in the past, why not today?

This time I could not get rid of it by closing the page out. I am not going to click on OK or cancel so it can install a program or virus that I do not want. In order to get out of the screen, I shut my machine down and rebooted it.

Yeah same thing happened to me too. Once I left WP a warning came up saying that my computer may be infected by a virus. Once I clicked the "X" button it directed me to a website where it said it was "checking my computer for viruses". This was not being done by my Anti-Virus scanner, so I knew it was attempting to upload a virus to my computer. My Norton Anti-Virus has picked up the ad-scam up until yesterday.

Thanks Roadracer, this is almost exactly what has happened to me. And to make matters worse, there are several variants of the malware. Norton antivirus doesn't pick these things up. Ctl-alt-del seems to work just fine, once you know what to look for.

no, I dont think Alex is going to pay you back for your computer repair bill
I sure hope he does something about it though
He is here, and posts most days, but is so darn quiet, you never know what is going on

If you wish to reach Alex, a post in the forums is not your best avenue for getting a response.

I seriously doubt that there would be any reimbursement, as anyone who uses WP does so of their own violition and therefore takes responsibility for themselves in that regard. You would likely have better luck pursuing a complaint with Google, since it would be their ads who are spawning the problem and not actually related to WP.


M.

Like I said, it is obvious that he isnt going to pay anyones computer repair bill What I said is not something you take literal, as it is a givin he is not going to pay your bill, but meant something like this, 'this is possibly messing up peoples computers to the point that they need to pay someone to fix them', to try to make him feel a touch guilty enough to fix it, or something like that. There are fixes for this problem, and if it is a google ad issue, he can also contact google for help.
From my experience, he has never replyed to any message I ever sent him before, and I would understand, as he probably gets a ton of messages and might not be able to respond or read every one (I really dont know)
YOU and the moderators have much better chance of contacting him then we do. So the way I see it, the best way of having a discussion to see what the problem is and if others are having the same issues, is to have a thread about it, and someone who CAN get in contact with him, can send him a message telling him we are having this problem, with a link to this thread

I know, if I decided not to make this thread, and instead just sent him a PM about this problem, I am almost certain he would have been thinking it was just a problem on my end with my computer, and would have just ignored me (But I dont know, thats only my best guess as to how it would have went)

Haha, roadracer, thanks for the extra information and thanks for Alex's address.

You don't know how much I appreciate your investigation into this. I actually know more and more victims who are falling into the trap you described (with screenshots). You also make a great point that I failed to consider with regards to browser type, security settings, etc. Hopefully, we are all aware of that factor. Also, a thank-you to DenvrDave for clarifying the effect of the browser's X button in the duration of this ad. I had no clue!

There is a funny thing. League_Girl, your situation is extremely similar to my friend's experience. It was on his laptop that I received the pop-up (simply hit the back button, and didn't get a download window nor any notifications of new files). But other than the time that I used his laptop, he got exactly what you described (from what I hear from you and him). His was from his own usual scanner -- not roadracer's fake one. He uses Symantec, by the way. He said to me he got his virus from devinatArt. I think the only difference is that his didn't prevent him from using his browser. I think that, like DenvrDave said, this is a variant of the malware roadracer explained.

From what I presume (based on merely nothing) the URL of the pop-up gives your computer a cookie which can (maybe?) activate later and therefore initiate a download that the user + antivirus software may not notice? Meh, I should do more research rather than presumption.

For some reason this topic is pretty important to me, and I don't really know why.

Never.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

Awesome, I like to actually give that program a serious try... but doesn't the ads follow what other site or topic you go on?

Like when I was on the computer section, the advertisement suddenly was telling me about the internet and now its telling me about body building crap...

I would of thought clearing the cookies would clear those annoying ad problems.

RR, I don't have any method to reach Alex that you do not have available to you yourself; there is no magic line that the moderators have that assures any quicker response. Please feel free to forward this thread to him where you feel is appropriate using those methods; however, my initial impressions are that this is an issue that could be solved largely through use of a different browser or a plug-in or two and while there is a relationship to the site, that it is up to each of us using the site to protect ourselves instead of expecting another person to do so for us.


M.

I agree and at risk of sounding like a broken record: I don't know why people simply don't use the Firefox browser. With the AdBlock Plus, NoScript and Flashblock plugins browsing is faster, much more secure and you don't get pestered by adverts. I've never even seen the advert/virus talked about in this thread, but then I haven't seen any adverts full stop since switching to Firefox a few years ago. Adverts never reach my screen.

well, then you dont understand the general computer user then! When you are running a website, you have to take into consideration that the majority of the users are using IE, dont have a clue what "firefox" is, dont know they have options, dont know what a ad blocker is, and dont know any better then to click on the advert and download the virus. Like it or not, the person who runs a website has a tad bit of resposibility to not ruin peoples computers. No it is not the users responsibility.

So you are pretty much saying that the solution for a website with problems should be the users problem and if they dont want to get the viruses they should just go some place else? I dont mean to cause any offense, but that is pretty much what you are saying to the majority of people here, who dont have firefox, and dont know what a ad blocker is or how to install one. You are pretty much sending the message that it is there problem because of there choice of browser and that if they dont like they should go someplace else. I know you didnt say that, but that is a way your impressions you shared could be interpreted

I see it as a total lack of care for the community that he has built, and his website, if he ignores a major issue like this and just expects people to use a different browser. It further shows when you have no way of getting in contact with him that would assure a response. You would think that he would have a clear, fast and quick response to his moderators when they have a issue.

So from the conversation we just had in this thread, I can come to the conclusion that
1. my best way to contact him should be a PM, but that he wont respond
2. you dont have any better methoad to contact him, and have just as much of a chance or recieving a response?
3. you dont ever want me to make a thread about issues I am having with the site, and instead want me to send him a PM

I am seriously not trying to start anything here, it is just that if you see it from my perspective of 1, 2, 3, I get the feeling that starting this thread somehow offends you? and that I should just send my message/issues threw Alex's mail slot that leads to a garbage shoot

can you at least see that there are some problems going on here? I would like to think that this thread taught some members something here. If it taught someone how to use ctrl+alt+del to close it, or whatever, and even if the problem dosent get fixed, I dont see making this thread as a total falure or that somehow I was just trying to cause trouble or something anyway, I am just not sure why when I have a problem like this, I am told to drop my message in the 'mail slot', when we all know were that goes

EDIT - maybe I just need a break from this place, the more time I spend here, the more I get frustrated by this sort of stuff. I guess I care about this all a little to much right now