Unusual popup

[DinoToyForum]

I experienced an unusual redirection/popup ad (saying that I won something - obvious spam) when I visited the forum on my iphone earlier. Has anyone else experienced this recently?

[Ravonium]

Can confirm this is happening with me 

[DinoToyForum]

I destermined that it was something to do with my google adsense ads, which I have disabled for now, and that seems to have solved the problem. Maybe google got hacked!?

[DinoToyForum]

Actually it just happened to me again. Urgg, will try and find fix...

[ITdactyl]

happens to me if i try to view forum posts without logging in. The ads appear as a new separate tab/window in the browser app.

I logged in and the problem stopped. not sure if that'll help.

[ceratopsian]

It afflicted me on my iPhone yesterday afternoon when I tried to visit the DTF.  A bit of research suggested it's a well-known piece of malware.  I haven't been able to get rid of it and can no longer access the DTF on my phone at all.  The on-line suggestions were to clear my Safari browser.  Plus disable my iCloud sync and clear my Facebook browser/history.  My mistake was, I think, to try and close the popup by clicking on the link's "close" rather than shutting down Safari.

Interestingly my husband, who doesn't use the DTF, had it appear on his phone yesterday pm too - but I can't think what sites we might both have visited.  We hadn't been in contact by text, e-mail etc that pm.

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks for the info. It happened to me on both ipad and iphone. I disabled my adsense ads on the forum and that seems to have mitigated the problem, but it might still be lurking. I'll investigate...

[ceratopsian]

Thanks for the info. It happened to me on both ipad and iphone. I disabled my adsense ads on the forum and that seems to have mitigated the problem, but it might still be lurking. I'll investigate...

My desktop is Microsoft, not Apple.

[ceratopsian]

Just did a quick check on my phone. The pop up is currently not appearing when I try to open threads.

[DinoToyForum]

It is definitely 'malvertising'. Malicious ads exploiting Adnetworks...

[DinoToyForum]

The problem is gone for me now: disabling ads on the forum, and clearing the cache on safari, fixed it. My desktop is a mac and I didn't have the problem at all, so it was iphone/ipad-specific problem. 

I'll leave ads off for now until I'm assured Google adsense has throttled the offending ads.

[ceratopsian]

Thank you!

[DinoToyForum]

  Just let me know if you (or anyone) experiences any more of these ads.

Also, did any of you happen to notice which ads appeared just before the redirect? Those will be the ads with the malicious code.

I'm relieved that the forum itself hasn't been hacked, that's what I thought at first.

[ITdactyl]

Didn't realize it'd be a serious matter. I just got menswear ads from Shopee (I only thought they were weird because the only ads I used to see from the forum are dinosaur toy related. Plus the Shopee ad tried to open new windows/tabs - which my ad blocker prevented)

[DinoToyForum]

Didn't realize it'd be a serious matter. I just got menswear ads from Shopee (I only thought they were weird because the only ads I used to see from the forum are dinosaur toy related. Plus the Shopee ad tried to open new windows/tabs - which my ad blocker prevented)

They sound like authentic ads to me. The malvertising 'ads' redirected away from the forum entirely with no way to return.

[ceratopsian]

Sorry I have no idea what legitimate ad was there at the time the pop up appeared. I train myself to ignore ads!

I will certainly contact you if the adware reappears.

Great news the forum itself wasn't hacked.

[DinoToyForum]

I'm reactivating adsense, the problem seems to have gone away, but let me know if the dodgy popup reappears!