Malware outbreak on the forum

There’s already a thread about this on Reddit; we’re all feeling the same way. It honestly feels like they're just running another advertisement. 😁

I wasn't being redirected at all 😕

But honestly, I’ve stopped seeing those 503 or 504 errors altogether lately—instead, I keep running into this 404 nonsense, some kind of database error... 🤷

Designer bags? Yeah, right. Total rip-off. Now some guy on Meta is calling me out and I can't even win the argument. Thanks a lot.

Amy Hughes said:Whenever I try to hit the forum's main homepage, it loads for maybe three or four seconds before it automatically kicks me over to some random gambling site or online sportsbook.
I tried blocking the site, but it doesn't even matter—it just redirects me there and then tells me the page is blocked.

If I access the forum through other specific links, everything works fine, but the second I land on the home page, I get redirected.

Any idea why?

I’ve noticed this only happens when I’m clicking through from one of those forum PDFs, rather than just typing the URL in normally.

It seems to be redirecting to this "bet-at-home" sportsbook.

Latest update on this whole mess:

Now it isn't sending me to the betting site anymore; instead, it’s redirecting me straight to a Meta page for some boutique handbag brand. 🤦

I just hopped onto Meta a second ago, and the moment I clicked the forum header, I got redirected straight into some random handbag sale.

Yeah, honestly, I was just about to say the exact same thing. It doesn't happen every single night, but man, it's pretty obvious some people are just bored out of their minds tonight.

Exactly the same thing happens with Louis Vuitton bags.🤣

melloworca6 said:There’s actually a whole thread about this over on Reddit; we’re all dealing with the exact same headache. Honestly, it feels like they're just using us for some giant new ad campaign at this point. 😁

Honestly, I feel a little better knowing we're all stuck in the same mess together. I really hope they get their act together and fix this soon. 😉

hollowtrucker77 said:It was reported early this morning, though it’s probably just a load balancer shuffling traffic between servers
but hey, might as well check so we can all stop worrying about it

The main site keeps auto-redirecting me to some random betting page. I swear, I blocked whatever the hell it was, but it still happened...
(a) On top of that, I actually got an email from the site yesterday—something that hasn't happened in all my years here—inviting me to try online gambling...
Seriously, is the admin still hungover from New Year's, totally incompetent, or do you guys just not have one at all?
Or is this just some stupid "feature" called annoying advertising?

Here we go again. 🙄

He hasn't been around for a while, so I honestly thought the whole thing was settled... just my imagination, I guess.

And now it’s even worse than yesterday; he’s out there making a scene and causing trouble even when you're just trying to walk past. 😠

Same thing happening here. First it was some random Meta ads, and now some US federal gaming commission agency is throwing up warnings and blocking me from the forum because of some gambling site. I had to dig through Google to find this PDF just to figure out what the hell is going on. It’s a relief to see I’m not the only one dealing with this; I usually have AdBlock Plus running, but this is clearly something else. 🤷definitely annoying

Tried heading back to the homepage, but I hit the same wall. This warning pops up instead:
In accordance with the decree from the State Gaming Commission dated January 2, 2007, regarding the removal of unauthorized online games, lotteries, betting, or prize competitions, the requested site is unreachable as it lacks the necessary authorizations to operate online gaming in the USA.

The list of authorized online gaming operators is available on the official government website www.aams.gov.it.

I should mention, thanks to some tips from 👍 , I tweaked my settings in Mozilla and now I can finally get back to the main page.

I’m basically loading the page and then slamming on the brakes just so it doesn't scroll past me
it’s the only way I can actually manage this forum 😁

Freud said:What’s the point of using ad-blockers? Why not just go into your browser settings and block redirects entirely?
Chrome:
Tools -> Settings -> Advanced -> General
Check the box for: Warn me when a website tries to refresh or redirect me

this should do the trick 😉

If you're using Chrome, try this:

Go to Tools - Settings - Advanced - General. Then, check the box that says "Warn when a website tries to redirect."

It stopped redirecting me automatically. 😍

edit: By the time I finished typing this, they already beat me to it. Thanks, Freud.

Emily Miller96 said:(so yesterday I get this email from the site, and after all these years, nothing ever happens, but suddenly they're inviting me to do some online gambling...)
Gentlemen, is the admin still blackout drunk from New Year's Eve, or just completely incompetent? Or maybe we don't even have an admin at all?
Or is this just some kind of stupidity on your part called "annoying advertising"?

Email 😲

What address did it come from? 😕

Is this just some backroom deal between the local forums and Bet at Home, and now they’re all playing dumb? I guess those kinds of kickbacks pay pretty well.

coppernomad10 said:Maybe this is just some backroom deal between this forum and BetOnline, and now they're all playing dumb? I guess those kinds of kickbacks pay pretty well.

And what’s even the point if most of the registered users aren't even planning to sign up, let alone place a bet on that site? So, if that actually is what's happening, then it's just money down the drain for that kind of advertising. 🤷

coppernomad10 said:Is this some sort of backroom deal between this forum and BetOnline, where they’re all suddenly playing dumb? Honestly, those kinds of kickbacks can be incredibly lucrative.

Well, if that's actually what's happening, then it's a spectacularly terrible way to run an advertisement.👎

Well, if this happens to be some kind of actual virus, then you really ought to get it sorted out immediately, but if this is just some attempt at advertising, then I have to say it isn't exactly a great move because this style of promotion is just incredibly intrusive and, frankly, quite irritating... I mean, you might actually end up losing your users that way.

What am I supposed to do if Microsoft Edge starts acting up?

And can this actually be fixed through the Control Panel? Or is that just wishful thinking?