Hate is a strong word. I don't use it often. But I really do hate hacking, scamming, and spamming.
I know I have been MIA a lot recently. Today, I decided to at least take a peek at my blog, only to discover it received 30 hits yesterday. That is unusual when I have not made any posts, or shared my blog address with my crazy quilting friends.
So, I looked to see what the referring URLs were to my site. I learned long ago NOT to click on the links listed there. Spammers use this tactic to receive Internet traffic from the unwary, and some of those sites are reputed to have viruses and malware.
I Googled the name of the site listed and without clicking on them, but skimming the links my search brought up, I read claims that ourmeets has viruses and malware. It is not a site I recommend visiting (in spite of its whopping Trust Score of 44% from one scam advising site.)
More disturbing, is that it sounds like others have had issues with fake URLs being posted using their photos and information gathered about them from the internet to make them sound legitimate. These bogus URLs redirect the unsuspecting people that click on the links to the pornographic ourmeets dot com site - which, again, is reputed to be infested with viruses and malware.
I am hoping photos from this blog do not crop up redirecting others to unsavory websites. Internet users beware. I suppose the only advice I can offer is below.
1. If you have a link, never click on the links claiming to be referring sites.
2. If you Google such a site - unless you know it is safe - still do not visit that site.
3. You should only find my photos here at my blog, on Facebook, on the CQJP 2013 blog, and on Pinterest. (Some of my Yahoo friends will also see pictures within albums in our group.)
4. Most of my photos have "monkeyandmutt.blospot.com" printed on them - so you don't have to risk clicking on a photo - even if you find it on Pinterest - you can just type in the web address.
If you have other advice, feel free to leave a comment.
Writing, sewing, crazy quilting and embroidery are some of my favorite activities. This blog will be my tool to set my goals, share my progress, and make each day a step closer to achieving my dreams.
4 comments:
I received around the same amount of hits yesterday too. Happens about 1-2 days in a row then it'll happen again in about 10 days. Its like a cycle they run through hoping to catch someone unaware. Wordpress catches all the spam comments though without publishing them on my blog and I can get rid of them. With the way your comments are set up with using the word verification deal, you shouldnt see any either.
Thanks for the info!
I'm glad I scrolled through your older posts. Thanks for this. I HATE scammers, spammers, et al also. They should be using their powers for good.
I agree! The world would be a much better place if they did!
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