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Original poster

Clicking on threads is automatically downloading files to my mac

12 replies

ZeroFuchsGiven · 14/07/2022 10:25

This has happened before a few years back.

It is randomly downloading files f.txt. followed by numbers, It is currently at number 34 so 34 files have downloaded so far.

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MNHQ

YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet · 14/07/2022 12:11

Hello everyone. The pop up you're seeing is caused by an ad on the page and right now, we're trying to identify which ad it is. In the meantime, clearing your cache might stop it. If you need help doing this, please let us know what browser you're using and we'll take you through the steps.

MNHQ

YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet · 14/07/2022 15:02

If you're experiencing this on Safari, could you please let us know which version you're using as we're trying to replicate it? Thank you. 🙏

MNHQ

YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet · 15/07/2022 12:23

Hello everyone - this will be fixed today. Thanks for all the v helpful info. We'll keep you updated.

MNHQ

YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet · 16/07/2022 15:17

Thanks for letting us know. We'll get back to you ASAP.

MNHQ

JoMumsnet · 17/07/2022 14:48

Hi again, we're really sorry that this issue is taking so long to resolve.

We're doing what we can behind the scenes to block the ads which may be causing these pop-ups. In the meantime, please try clearing your cache as that may help. If you need assistance with this, we can talk you through the steps across different browsers.

Please bear with us - we'll be back with an update as soon as we can.

MNHQ

HebeMumsnet · 18/07/2022 10:50

Morning, everyone. Thanks for the further information. It's all helped us in tracking down the problem and we hope to have it sorted very soon.

Just to reassure you, the issue you are experiencing is not malware or a threat to your system. This is happening due to an ad being coded incorrectly by an advertiser and we are investigating with all of our ad partners to identify who is delivering this ad and will then be taking strict measures, such as banning the advertiser.

Please note, this issue is not specific to Mumsnet and will happen on other websites because the pop up is being served by the browser misunderstanding the creative due to the incorrect implementation, so it may be something you see elsewhere, too.

As soon as we have tracked it down and got rid of it we'll update here and on the other thread, too.

Thanks again for your patience.

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 19/07/2022 18:54

QuebecBagnet · 19/07/2022 18:51

It’s 100% the cellular advert. On an iPad.

We're looking into this one now - thank you. Do you have a screenshot of the advert?

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 19/07/2022 19:18

Hi -

Sorry I missed that. There's a few threads on this. Yes, this advert is already being looked into, we're in the process now. We're sorry it's taking such a long time to get to the bottom of this.

MNHQ

HebeMumsnet · 20/07/2022 11:15

Morning, everyone. Thanks for all the information, screengrabs and videos. It's been a big help.

Some good news: we have spoken to the advertiser directly and now have confirmation they have paused all activity on Mumsnet so this should no longer be a problem. It's possible you may need to clear your cache so if you do spot this problem again, do try that first. Of course, if there are any further issues after that, please do let us know here but hopefully the issue is sorted now.

We also just wanted to clear up the issue about this happening on other sites too as it seems to have caused a bit of disbelief and concern. We had spoken to other sites, including an ad tech security company, about the same issue and how they were resolving it, so we knew it was occurring elsewhere. Obviously, if you didn't happen to have visited sites where this specific ad was appearing, you wouldn't have experienced the issue there. But we promise we weren't gaslighting anyone with this information, we just wanted to give you as much info as possible while we worked towards a fix.

Thanks again for your patience while we found a solution. Flowers

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 21/07/2022 14:01

We're checking that out now, OP. We'll get back to you on that - thank you for the screenshot.

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 21/07/2022 14:25

ZeroFuchsGiven · 21/07/2022 13:39

So now this? Completely different to what was happening but again has just downloaded straight to my Mac from the MN talk home page! This actually looks a lot more worrying to me.

Can you talk us through the ads you saw on the page prior to this message?

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 22/07/2022 18:27

TerriblyNaice · 22/07/2022 18:02

And I'm still having my MacBook overheated because of Mumsnet 😡

We're looking into this now, thank you so much for the screenshot.

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