RESOLVED: Red Skulls for rogue ads on some domains.

1. 82

   Au faitposted 10 years ago

   My account page is now peppered with red skulls saying several of my hubs contain "malicious links."  I have removed all links except 3 on one of my hubs.  One link is to a Wikipedia article.  Is Wikipedia now considered malicious?  The other two links are to my own articles here on HP.  Has HP suddenly become allergic to itself and is now attacking HP articles?  Or does HP actually include malicious links in our hub URLs and then blame us for it?  Nothing would surprise me here.
   
   HP is threatening to unpublish my articles if I don't remove all links pronto.  Why is it my fault if HP has malicious links included in our hubs that they have published themselves?  Why am I no longer allowed to link to my own hubs here on HP?  They have been published for months and suddenly the links HP provided for our articles are malicious links?  Why doesn't HP just stop including malicious links in our URLs and stop blaming us for it???

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2. 80

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   If you click on the message in the hub it will tell you the specific link being flagged.

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   1. 82

      Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      There is no message on the hub, and there is only a list of the so-called offensive hubs when I click on the skulls.

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      1. 77

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I had something similar happen awhile back.  It turned out to be a glitch in the system.  I found out AFTER I had spent many hours getting rid of those links.  Contact the team asap about this one

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      2. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         If there's no message on the Hubs, it's a glitch as TimeTraveler says. 
         
         Try clicking on "check for violations now" at the bottom of the account page and see if they disappear.

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         1. 82

            Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I have written to 'Team' and asked for advice on this issue.  I also did as you suggested, Marisa, and clicked on the 'check violations,' etc.  There are now only 5 skulls showing so that's an improvement, but still there are 5.
            
            I appreciate everyone's help here.

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      3. 80

         psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         So you  open the hub, click on the warning, the link with be specified there in a drop down.

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         1. 82

            Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            When I click on the only warning on the upper right side, nothing drops down.

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   2. 73

      Shyron E Shenkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't have any skulls on my hubs, and I have not been to Bubblews in a while. But have heard throuhg the grapevine that the skulls have a connection with advertising on Bubblews.

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3. 61

   The Examiner-1posted 10 years ago

   Are they promotional links in any way?

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   1. 82

      Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't check all of them, but some of the skulls have disappeared without my ever opening the hub so designated.  My own links to my own hubs are in link capsules and the one to Wikipedia was in a sentence as a reference if anyone wanted to research further.  I haven't checked all of the links or opened all of the 'offensive' hubs.  There were so many initially . . .  now down to 5 skulls.

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Where you have links to your own Hubs, are they on the same topic?
         
         All links in a Hub must be related to the topic of the Hub.  You can't just link to a Hub because it's yours.

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         1. 82

            Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, all links are related whether my own or other hubbers.  One of the hubs that has a skull on it doesn't even have any links in it!

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            1. 85

               Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Definitely sounds like a glitch then.

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            2. 96

               wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Did you put links in your photos, as attribution?

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               1. 82

                  Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I only use Wikipedia Commons, Photobucket, and Flickr.  Are these now considered phishing sites?  If so, why does no one else who uses them have red skulls all over their account page?  I just spoke to my friend Shyron on the phone ad she uses Wikipedia Commons a lot, yet no skulls.
                  
                  Thanks for trying to help Wilderness.  I appreciate it.

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                  1. 88

                     moonlakeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     I just checked mine no skulls. Hope you find out what is going on.

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                     1. 82

                        Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        I just looked again at my article about Diet Drinks Can Make You Fat, and the one photo is attributed to Flickr, and the only links in it, 3 of them, are to my own hubs.  There is no message in the upper right corner in the edit phase, but the red skull remains.
                        
                        Thank you for letting me know that you have no red skulls, Moonlake.  I wonder why I seem to be the only person experiencing this weirdness.

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                        1. 53

                           Brett.Tesolposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           Hi Au Fait,
                           
                           I got the same skulls, do investigated and contacted Bubblews support. The problem was a bad ad slipped through the normal screening. Most of us use ad blockers, so it isn't a problem. But, if you don't, maybe run a malware scan to be safe.
                           
                           The advert had now been removed and Bubblews is safe again. Google was also advised and will remove the warnings over the next 24-48 hours.
                           
                           Hope this helps. I guess any site that used that ad provider got marked with a warning temporarily.

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                           1. 82

                              Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              I have no links to Bubblews.  Mine were to Wikinut.  When I tried to go to Wikinut where I have written a few articles, i was warned it was a dangerous site to visit right now, so I didn't go any further.  I have removed all links to Wikinut in my hubs, and the warning messages on the upper right of my hubs in the edit phase are gone, but the skulls are still on my account page next to the titles of my hubs that used to have links to Wikinut.  Appreciate your taking the time to let me and anyone following this thread know that things are improving, Brett.

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4. 93

   Sue Adamsposted 10 years ago

   I too suddenly had 6 red skulls in my stats today, all relating to links to my Bubblews a/c which I now removed and the skulls are gone. So apparently links to Bubblews are malicious now.  Figure that one out!
   These threads may be related:
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/120083#post2542051
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/120083

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   1. 82

      Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I don't write on Bubblews and I have no links to anything on there.  Even when there is nothing left except links to my own articles right here on HP which are applicable to the subject, the skulls remain.
      
      Thanks for the links and for sharing your experience, Sue.

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      1. 93

         Sue Adamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         That's weird. Maybe you should contact staff (Mathew) about this but don't expect an answer till Monday at least.

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         1. 82

            Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I wrote to 'Team' and I guess that's the same thing.

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            1. 82

               Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Just woke up a few minutes ago and there was a message in my email from HP Team.  I rechecked for violations and none were found.  All skulls have been removed. 
               
               I noted several hours ago that the warning displayed when I tried to access Wikinut had been taken down.

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   2. 61

      The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Sue,
      I looked at both and they led to other forum(s) related to skulls and led back to your post on here. Perhaps the skulls on your stats have something to do with 'forum' links or skull links - or even being led in a circle.

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5. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

   There's a malware infestation going on all over town. http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/120083? … ost2542133 My guess is that the HP algo is slamming all the doors shut just in case, so to speak. Tomorrow's another day...

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   1. 82

      Au faitposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Saw your posting, but since I'm not at all involved with Bubblews it didn't seem to apply.  Here's hoping tomorrow is better. Thanks Paradigmsearch.

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      1. 53

         Brett.Tesolposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sorry, replied above ... Thought it was the end of the chat lol. Anyway, all is answered there :-p

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6. 67

   diogenesposted 10 years ago

   Your skulduggery is catching up with you!  I have 400 hubs and not one skull! 
   Mr Goody Two-Shoes

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7. 63

   Anamika Sposted 10 years ago

   Just got a mail from Wikinut.
   Hello,
   
   Some users trying to access the Wikinut.com website are currently
   being shown a warning relating to malware. The warning is appearing
   because of an advert which briefly ran on the site, Wikinut has not
   been "hacked" and is not sending malware or malicious scripts to
   users. No user data has been inappropriately accessed or compromised.
   
   Wikinut uses a range of suppliers to fill advertising space on the
   site. These agencies are responsible for checking and approving
   adverts before they are eligible for display. Yesterday one of the
   agencies we use made an error and temporarily allowed an unsuitable
   advert onto the system. This advert was directing users to a location
   where they would be presented with malware, and as such the automated
   warning system was enabled by some browser companies (most notably
   Google Chrome).
   
   The agency quickly removed the advert from their system.
   Additionally we have removed ALL adverts from that agency from
   Wikinut.
   
   We have submitted a review request to inform the browser suppliers
   that the advert is no longer on the site. Unfortunately the warning
   will remain in place until this review request has been actioned, a
   process which can take 24 hours.
   
   Frequently asked questions:
   
   - Has Wikinut been hacked?
   - NO. We do not host adverts on our servers and our agencies have
   no access to our equipment or data. No user data has been compromised
   whatsoever.
   
   - Did Wikinut send any malware to users?
   - NO. Non of the advertiser's files are ever stored on our servers.
   
   - If the advert is removed why is the site still blocked?
   - Browser suppliers (such as Google) automatically block a website
   when they detect certain activity. Asking for this block to be
   reviewed takes time, typically up to 24 hours.
   
   - Will you be working with this agency again in the future?
   - We have requested more information from them and will consider
   their response, but they are currently suspended from Wikinut and
   this is likely to remain the case.
   
   This special message has being sent to all Wikinut.com user accounts.
   Please accept our apologies for any disruption or inconvenience.
   
   The Wikinut team

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