Annoying pop ups

[NoWordForFluffy]

I keep getting an annoying pop up which can't be closed and takes me away from the page I'm on when I 'close' it. Some dodgy, 'You have won' pop up.

I'm on the mobile site on my iPhone using Safari, iOS 12.1.2.

Can this please be sorted?

There’s such a lack of information from Mnhq, it’s actually quite rude.

@MNHQ please don’t fob us off this time.

but can it really be that hard to sort out if you are a tech?

I'm beginning to think I need to get a job as a MNHQ tech, it's got to be easier than my current job. This has been an issue since last Wednesday and yet they still haven't fixed it.

Had no issues yesterday evening or this morning but just had two pop ups in a row , so its started again for me

No issues yesterday evening or this morning but justhadtwo in a row - and triuble posting too

Mine is resolved thanks

Hi there all,

We're really sorry this is taking so long to sort out, thank you for your patience. We are still looking into it and trying to figure out exactly what the cause of it is. We've tried a few fixes so far but unfortunately it seems nothing has worked.

👋🏻 It’s been a problem for a few weeks now, not consistency but this is an exact repeat-is our data safe?

It can’t be that difficult to identify - either your site links have been directly hijacked or your ad network has allowed in malware.

Hi all,

Is anyone still having this issue? If so please post a screen shot when it happens - we need to see exactly what time you're seeing it, as we're tweaking quite a few things simultaneously to get it sorted as quickly as possible.

It’s clear for me now Anya but I would still appreciate a proper explanation from the tech team this time.

Just rated happening for me here in the US. It was a problem about a month ago. Refers to an internet provider, Verizon, that we do not use.

Hi there @whatashower,

Unfortunately, some fraudulent advertising buyers install malicious code and try to bypass the security systems of websites. They target users using random categories, and constantly change these categories which can make it very hard for security teams to find the source.

At Mumsnet we only work with reputable organisations, but in this case we are dealing with well-organised fraudsters, which makes it extremely hard to identify the root cause.

We appreciate all the information you send to us and we use it to help investigate and test out scenarios in an attempt to solve the problem. We are currently talking to Google's Trust and Safety teams to find out more and we'll continue to do our best to avoid these situations.

Let us know if you have any more questions about this and we'll try to answer.

Thank you @AnyaMumsnet

Do you know what the malicious code trying to achieve? Is it targetting the site databases or getting users to interact in order to download malware to their devices?

Perhaps a warning to users not to click on any elements of the rogue ads/pages would be helpful and what to do to 'escape' ......?

Appreciate the relevant people will be busy working on it but it sounds quite serious - a bit surprised MNHQ havent issued a statement or warnings, or taken the site offline to fix, tbh.

Hi there @whatashower,

We always recommend users do not click on anything suspicious and alert us immediately. We need to issue to happen on the live site so we can replicate it and kill it, otherwise we wouldn't be able to get to the bottom of it. We have now got a step by step document on what affected users can do to help us find the source, which we'll direct you to if the issue occurs again.

Obviously we can't be sure of every case for sure, but usually all these ads are trying to do is drive traffic to their websites, to enable them to make more money from ads.

We hope this explains a bit further, but let us know if you need anything else.

You don’t have a choice about clicking with this though, it just redirects you and you can’t get out other than by closing the browser.

Thanks again @AnyaMumsnet

Tunnocks is right, the only way of getting out is to shut down the browser.
The advert has a "close" button but when you click that, it takes you further in to what looks like a BT website.

Interestingly, several posters have linked the problem to a French advert, I'm now getting a Spanish advert (for financial services!) so am apprehensive about another round of dodgy adverts.

I think it's worrying that the advert apparently has my IP address too, though I know that is changed.

I didn’t realise at first but I was getting this up until yesterday and it was every time I had a french weight watchers advert at the top of the page whenever that appeared I got one of those spam pop ups when I clicked on a thread or a picture.
It hasn’t happened today so fingers crossed it’s gone now.

So what is the worst that they can get from us? Is our information compromised?

The pop ups know who my home internet provider is and who my phone contract / data provider is. ‘Dear xyz customer’ , and I saw from pp’s screenshots that different providers were named.

I am not tech literate, and it is because I am not tech literate that I would prefer something beyond a ‘there there, we’re doing our best sitting round our kitchen table while the big techy types sort it out’ response.

Is it a security risk? If you can’t track and fix the cause how can you be sure that it is not a security risk?

Should I do anything to protect my phone? My data?

Well quite hotpot. The very lovely Mumsnet is not a kitchen table operation .....it is a £8m + business whose revenues are principally derived from advertising. ........ah.........

We are asking sensible questions and I trust we will get a more robust response eventually.

It is very very easy to find out an internet users isp and IP address. That isn’t something to worry about.
I’ve seen it as a signature on forums, someone holding up sign on which will have your isp, os and IP address.

We're looking at how to stop the annoying pop-up ads and have the following info to pass on if any of you are interested in turning detective (and are using Apple/iOS devices), please read on...

Why are Mumsnet showing me these annoying pop-up ads?
Mumsnet sell adverts directly to some advertisers, however we also sell some of our adverts through third-party partners. We do not sell these annoying pop-up adverts directly to advertisers as we know they are frustrating and take you away from the site. These adverts often come through third-party partners which we try to stop as soon as we can.

Can I help?
You can help us to track down advertising miscreants by using a free app to identify where these bad ads are coming from. If you're interested, there are more details below...

What is HTTP Watch?
HTTP Watch basic is a free app (not the paid for version) in the Apple App Store which functions like a normal web browser with the added benefit of capturing all the ad calls and ad responses whilst you browse.

Will HTTP Watch record any private information such as login details?
No, your personal data is not captured in the trace. All that is captured is various requests and responses that the page makes such as requests to third-parties to return adverts on the page.

When should I use HTTP Watch and why?
It can be extremely difficult for Mumsnet to identify where the ad is coming from with only a screenshot or a URL. As an ad call can be passed from one company to another we will often need to know the full chain of events to help us identify the guilty party very quickly.

How to use HTTP Watch
Go to the Apple App Store, Chrome webstore and download the free HTTP Watch Basic app (not the paid for version)

Instructions
Once downloaded, open the app and type in the website URL where you last saw the bad ad
If you do not see the bad ad Click on menu (identified by 3 horizontal lines top right hand of screen) and tap ‘Clear Log’.

Refresh the page or go to another page to see if the ad appears. If the ad does not appear then repeat step 3.
Once you see the bad AND you need to tap on the icon that looks like three horizontal bars in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. This is where all the ad calls have been captured whilst you have been browsing.

Now tap the Menu icon in the top right of the screen (three horizontal lines.)Tap ‘Email’ and then send this whole file to Mumsnet explaining the issue you saw with as much detail about the issue you saw. The email address is [email protected]

Remember to ‘Clear Log’ after each page refresh when you don’t see the bad ad otherwise the file can become very large and you may not be able to email the file to us. You only need to clear the log when you do not see the ad or after you have successfully emailed the log to us.

Now the ads have moved to the right side and i only have room for 1 thread in trending now!