Pop up/under ad(s) causing Anti-Virus application to be set off.

I haven't reported anything with the scam pop-up ads for a while as the first time around it did not go well. I've been mostly keeping a record of the pop-up ads otherwise I'm just ignoring them and quickly closing them out. However, I can't ignore the scam pop-up ad if it's setting the Anti-virus program (AVG) off. Said event just happened today as I was about to update some post.

- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: August 22, 2019, 3:52 PM HAST.
-Type: (Pop up, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra  V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 68.0.2
-  URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=6bf2dfnfyg5ibi424d&trafficsource=21&lpkey=15f866f8520e52d359&campaign=2347&uclick=fnfyg5ibi4

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG, You can see what happened to the pop up site in the background of the AVG screenshots.
- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

I've seen a lot of ads like this one on forumotion forums and generally on the Internet. I'm just wondering if people actually fall for these.

In Forumotion there is no popup advertising, that advertising is caused by the codes that we put in our forums often taken from other sites, such as clocks, counters, flag indicators etc ...

There are only redirects, to other pages when the forum is abandoned and without activity, but that is corrected in the moment the forum is activated again

jucarese wrote:In Forumotion there is no popup advertising, that advertising is caused by the codes that we put in our forums often taken from other sites, such as clocks, counters, flag indicators etc ...

There are only redirects, to other pages when the forum is abandoned and without activity, but that is corrected in the moment the forum is activated again

I believe she is referring to the Pop Under Ads, which have had issues in the past with stuff like this (though not in awhile).

@The Godfather May you please look into this report?

is this your forum ?
http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/

if yes then you will get one pop up a day when you log on as you do not have any members or activity points
You must have activity points to stop this.

My advice is to post more on your forum and get members to post then the activity points will go up and the pop up ad's will stop.

Yes, I know about the low active issues. That the same excuse you gave last time around. However, I am not going to be accepting that excuse this time around. It does look like you are trying to say that you are supporters of scam ads that set security software off. As the same ad did the same thing again today too. This is really not good for my forum site. That scam URL needs to be blocked and quickly.



While here are nexts version that happened:

- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: August 24, 2019, 6:04pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 68.0.2
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=1bb20bza6ftbgi4f01&trafficsource=21&lpkey=150166b8703d593283&campaign=2347&uclick=bza6ftbgi4

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG.
- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

Here is another round, August 25, 2019


- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: August 24, 2019, 6:04pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 68.0.2
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=d88e9bzbzlpj6fe118&trafficsource=21&lpkey=150566e0794d515a43&campaign=2347&uclick=bzbzlpj6fe

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains is this:

Spoiler:

- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

Dragongirl02 wrote:Yes, I know about the low active issues. That the same excuse you gave last time around. However, I am not going to be accepting that excuse this time around. It does look like you are trying to say that you are supporters of scam ads that set security software off. As the same ad did the same thing again today too. This is really not good for my forum site. That scam URL needs to be blocked and quickly.

I'm just going to try a different approach here. Have you tested to see if other anti-virus softwares also block the url as read it as harmful? I can't speak for you but I've used avg before and in my experience it really isn't the most reliable. It would likely be beneficial to see how other anti-virus programs respond like mcafee or kaspersky. Maybe see if the same issue if affecting you members, the ones the don't adblock or use chrome because of the built in pop up blocker, anyway. You should know for certain if the problem is the anti-virus detecting something it shouldn't or if it is the site itself.

APE wrote:if yes then you will get one pop up a day when you log on as you do not have any members or activity points
You must have activity points to stop this.

My advice is to post more on your forum and get members to post then the activity points will go up and the pop up ad's will stop.

What are activity points, how do they work and what all do they do? Is there a guide here that I could read about them?

You get activity points when you post on your forum, when people make accounts and so on. When you're low on activity points, you may see this type of "ads".

Any good antivirus should detect this and block it. Forumotion should do the same.

Not good, it does seem you are supporters of scam ads that set security software off. As the same ad did the same thing again today September 9th. I taught it was blocked on your end too. However, apparently, you do support this nasty and dangerous stuff and want personal information stolen. I will not take the low activity point count as a viable excuse anymore.

- Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: August September 9, 2019, 12:08 pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United%20States&os_name=Mac%20OS%20X&os_version=10.13&clickid=2d93e8rfvqdxoi42e8&trafficsource=21&lpkey=15846878067966b168&campaign=2347&uclick=8rfvqdxoi4

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains is this:

Spoiler:

- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

Are these ads appearing on PC and mobile or just one of them?  I do get any anti-virus or browser block message from your forum.

Note that was the ad site that should have been blocked long ago setting of the anti-virus again. The forum site was minimized to put more focus on the nasty ad issue. The form site is still okay for now. Tough if that ad is not removed soon the forum site might be in danger. As for cell’s protection, I use Adblocker on it. Even though I can use Adblocker on the computer too, I keep it disable for my forum site so I can see the ads. Not everyone can use Adblocker, especially if they are using a school or work computer. At this rate, it looks like I can no longer trust this hosting site since it seems clear you folks support nasty ads. So as soon as I can find a way to do this with another host, my forum will be moving. However, it might take a year or more to do, depending on which method I use.

Hello @Dragongirl02

I have sent a report off to the head office to ask them to come read this topic and see if we can help remove the ad's with the problem.

I hope that some one will be here to talk to you soon.

best regards.

APE.

I'm starting to doubt anything is going to be done with that nasty ad at this rate. However, we will see. It should have been blocked back in August when I first reported it but it never was apparently. That is why I got it again the other day which is suspicious for you folks. How many time does an ad that sets off an anti-virus off actually need to be reported? It should not have to be four times.

As i have told you I have made a report and that is all i can do my end. Sadly we do not work in the main head office we all work from home FOR FREE we make a report using a tool and the tool is read by the head office every day but there could be 100's of reports made by other staff members a day so some will take time to get on to and some will get fixed faster then others.

all i can tell you is i have made the report and it will get looked at at some point.

I am going to start to look for a new host, Forumotion has to manny risky ads. Once again the one I asked to be blocked appeared again. Luckily it caused AVG to go off and AVG blocked it as usually. If an anti-virus program wasn't installed that site probably would have infected my computer by now. AVG is the only thing saving the computer from infection.

- Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 15, 2019, 10:08 pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United%20States&os_name=Mac%20OS%20X&os_version=10.13&clickid=a86497vb4pm4k025a&trafficsource=21&lpkey=156468a262d6099e54&campaign=2347&uclick=7vb4pm4k0

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains is this:

Spoiler:

- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

Plus I've also been getting another questionable ad. This one doesn't set off AVG like the instantreward.site one does but is dose alarm Firefox.

- Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 15, 2019, 9:24 am HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
URL of the ad:

Code:

https://cs.adpiano.com/iosaishasa/bnsbasbae/?utm_source=264&utm_campaign=108712&clck=52c93cd0-d7ee-11e9-95e8-1f58f5b65ad0&sid=f5a4a1ff

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to Firefox. What remains is this:

Spoiler:

- Comments:

Thank you for your report,

Our team are working on this problem and you will get news as soon as we get a fix for this.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Best regards

APE and the team.

Still doing it and as for those pop up/under ads happening once a day that is not true. I have been getting one during the day and one at night meaning, I see two pop up/under ads daily not all are cause for alarm though. The ones that alarm either an Anti-virus or the browser itself I'll report. Between all of the nasty mess, I have seen a legit Hulu ad. The Hulu one is an acceptable pop-up/under as it's just advertising its streaming service.

Well here are the recent ads that alarmed something:
Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 17, 2019, 6:31 pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United%20States&os_name=Mac%20OS%20X&os_version=10.13&clickid=99c207vftg6ibfee30&trafficsource=21&lpkey=155968057848128748&campaign=2347&uclick=7vftg6ibfe

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains you can see behind the AVG alerts notices. It is the same as usual.
- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

- Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 18, 2019, 10:29 am HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
URL of the ad:

Code:

https://cs.adpiano.com/iosaishasa/bnsbasbae/?utm_source=264&utm_campaign=108712&clck=d75c2d70-da52-11e9-b599-db3d30859bb7&sid=f5a4a1ff

Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to Firefox. What remains is this:

Spoiler:

- Comments:

hello @Dragongirl02

your forum is dead without any activity at all for 3 months and it has 0 point. so it is normal to have advertising pop-ups on it.

if you do not want to have them, you just have to reactivate your forum so that it is no longer considered dead and abandoned. you can also delete the ad from your admin panel.

on our side, we will check with the concerned advertising agency to block this campaign

Still doing it I know the low activity. The site is not dead I do edit my topic periodically to add stuff. As for removing the ad that would force me to pay with money and I don't want to give any more to you folks. Since that will encourage you to do this nasty ad stuff to force people into paying for ad removal to get rid of it. To top it off I did have AVG double-check to make sure the instantreward.site was not a false alert. They confirm it's an iPhone Phishing scam. So this mess will continue till its block on your side and or I find a new host.



while that ad did it again:
Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 20, 2019, 12:03 pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
- URL of the ad:

Code:

  https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=e7a0b7v3va5oj3ycec&trafficsource=21&lpkey=15be69df0160642e26&campaign=2635&uclick=7v3va5oj3y

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains:

- Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

It did it for the second time in one day.
Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 29, 2019, 8:08 pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=49ce97vibc8sci4f7a&trafficsource=21&lpkey=155f69390414602118&campaign=2347&uclick=7v3va5oj3y

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains:

Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

Once again. You may be wondering why the AVG screen for the Screenshot(s) of the Ad is no longer in a spoiler tag. I want others to see what craziness is going on.

Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 20, 2019, 8:08 pm HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=49ce97vibc8sci4f7a&trafficsource=21&lpkey=155f69390414602118&campaign=2347&uclick=7v3va5oj3y

Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains:

Comments:
Anti-virus program (AVG) Screencaps:

Spoiler:

Got the questionable one that freaks out Firefox:

- Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 22, 2019, 10:00 am HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0
URL of the ad:

Code:

https://cs.adpiano.com/nasjauea/uiuasoae/?utm_source=264&utm_campaign=109140&clck=2c76cf80-dd73-11e9-b4fa-c991a7fb36bf&sid=f5a4a1ff

Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to Firefox. What remains is this:

- Comments:

While at this rate it seems less and less safe to leave the forum site on this host. It seems like the only other solution is to move the forum site to another host once I find a new host and some time to do so. As it seems to be that scam site instantreward.site will not be blocked and only AVG is saving me.

AVG saved me again from the www.instantreward.site scam ad. That's the 9+ time it has done that.

Site:http://friendlyforest.forumotion.com/
- Your country: USA
- Date and time when the ad appears: September 23, 2019, 10:13 am HAST
-Type: (Pop up/under, banner top, Banner bottom) Pop up/under ad
- Where you logged in to the forum: Yes
- Device and version: macOS High Sierra V.10.13.6
- Browser and version: Firefox V. 69.0.1
- URL of the ad:

Code:

https://www.instantreward.site/dir/gift/iphone/en/?city=Honolulu&country=United States&os_name=Mac OS X&os_version=10.13&clickid=17e12he16myx9bl6bf&trafficsource=21&lpkey=15b169a226a993be83&campaign=2635&uclick=he16myx9bl

- Image location (if applicable):
- Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains:

Screenshot(s) of the Ad: Blocked thanks to AVG. What remains:

Are you exactly posting replies and new topics?  If no, this will not raise your forum's activity points.

I'm not going to post random stuff which would basically be spam on my own forum just to get the scam ad that AVG is having to continuously stop to completely go away.

I understand that, but it will stop all pop up and under ads.

Let me see there are a few areas I might be able to slip it into where it would not be completely considered spam for at least a bit mostly forum game stuff. Still that scam ad has to stop. I will be most likely moving the forum site once I can find a new host since it seems the only other option. The Anti-Virus program having to stop the scam ad from infecting my computer like 9+ times is an indication it is way too dangerous and the host is a supporter of phishing scammers as long as that ad remains.

Edit: Did a few posts but I know it won't hold up very long.

I also looked at something I noticed I had some stored credits leftover from a while ago. Think I did buy the ad removal the last time ads got out of control hence the leftover credits. Might have been to protect the Smartphone back before ad-blocking for the smartphone was available.
However, I can't even use the leftover credits to remove the ads by month until I find a new host. I don't have enough to do a year again since I'm going to try to move the forum by the end of the year. I do have enough for a month to month for a few months but that would force me into paying more money which I said I don't want to do. If there was a way to use the remaining store credits to remove the nasty pop up/under ads for a few months till I find a new host I would do so but it's not doable anymore.

Hello,

Regarding all the problems here, we replaced the ad partner by a new one this morning. The ad format is always the same but the campaigns should be different. Please, let us know if the situation is better on the inactive forums regarding this ad.

Nevertheless, it must be understood that the monetization of inactive forums is difficult. The best advertising networks do not necessarily want to display their ads because these forums are no longer moderated by members. So there is a lot of risk for them, especially on quality. It is for this reason that there may be problems with advertising despite the vigilance of each party.

Had connection problem with forum yesterday. Finally was able to connect by changing antivirus from ESET to Kaspersky. I can now connect but I get a redirect popup every time I want to login. This just started happening yesterday.
Forum address: https://nortexsimracing.forumotion.com/

Url of popup: https://ca.worldvictory.vip/ca/1/cogeco/?key=eyJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOiIxNTY5NDI0ODQ0IiwiaGFzaCI6IjBhZWY4YTJlODQyNjIwYmQ5ZDdjMTQ5YTQxOTIzMDAyZGNmODg2MmYifQ%3D%3D&bemobdata=c%3Da0ccf120-415e-4351-afe9-ee4f27c40fae..a%3D7..b%3D0..z%3D0.007185..c1%3D2827264..c2%3D2679158..c3%3D200744923639591094..c4%3D4144943..r%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fgraivaik.com%252F1%252F1407888%252F%253Fvar%253D2827264#

for some reason, when I try to access my forum, my antivirus is blocking the page with this error:

This web page contains potentially dangerous content.

JS/Adware.Agent.AA application

Well, I am sure this is being caused by some advert on the page...

Also, I notice that recently, when I click anything on the page (nav bar, login or other) - then it gives a popup, some crap advertisement popup in a new window.

Do you mean this:  https://help.forumotion.com/t157846-pop-up-under-ads-causing-anti-virus-application-to-be-set-off ?