Links being added to posts

[Vaughn]

I am starting to see links added to posts...it even happened to one of mine.

New type of spamming attack?

Vaughn

[Vaughn]

It might be just my computer (actually the one the my boys use). I just noticed it happening on another website.

vaughn

[Brian C. Miller]

Sounds like your browser has been compromised. Run a scan (you do have a virus scanner installed, right) and see if anything is found. Also check the plugins for something that looks unusual. Kaspersky is really good about catching stuff like this.

[rdenney]

I'm not seeing this with others, so I think Brian is right--I bet this is something that is happening because of a rogue plug-in in your browser.

Was it adding links to stuff you posted only, or were you just seeing links in stuff you looked at? If the latter, I have had that problem, too. Changing browsers back to what I prefer (Firefox) solved that problem. I looked at the messages you messaged the mods about, and didn't see a link--but I also wondered if Ralph, Neil, Ken or Kirk had gotten to it first.

Rick "who stopped using Chrome because it was adding links to everything I looked at" Denney

[Ralph Barker]

I'm not seeing this with others, so I think Brian is right--I bet this is something that is happening because of a rogue plug-in in your browser.

Was it adding links to stuff you posted only, or were you just seeing links in stuff you looked at? If the latter, I have had that problem, too. Changing browsers back to what I prefer (Firefox) solved that problem. I looked at the messages you messaged the mods about, and didn't see a link--but I also wondered if Ralph, Neil, Ken or Kirk had gotten to it first.

Rick "who stopped using Chrome because it was adding links to everything I looked at" Denney

Nope. The compromised browser idea makes sense. Or, it might be Google's idea of "smart browsing" - similar to the annoying key-word links from Bing.

[Vaughn]

I am using Firefox. The boys also use Chrome. The rogue links appear stuff others have posted, for example the word 'browsers" in Rick's post above.

We have an anti-virus running, but the dang thing is in Spanish. I bought the computer (PC) locally for my boys -- I'll let them clean things up, as that was part of the deal.

My Mac just died -- which is why I an even on my boys' machine.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Brian C. Miller]

OK, Vaughn, I just realized what's happening. The site doesn't add the links, it's happening inside the browser. There is a plugin, or something, that is takes the message text you see, and rewrites it with a link. Mouse over the link, and look for the "http" part. All of the links probably have a common part, which goes to some central dispatcher, which then redirects you to the advertised link. After the "http" part, the name you see there probably has something to do with the plugin name in the broswer. Or you can do a search for that URL name, and there's going to be posts about it, what's happening, and how to disable it.

Long ago I got nailed by a drive-by download using IE, and it took me an afternoon to figure out what happened and how to remove it. It was not pretty, it was not fun, and if I was not an expert with this stuff I might have given up and reformatted the computer.

(As for my personal browser, a lot of the time I use Lynx or Links, which are text-only browsers. Paranoid? Me? Naaahhhh...)