adverts are auto-downloading something on my computer

[MapleSyrupWaffles]

Every few days (randomly) an advert will trigger an automatic file download onto my computer. The file appears in the downloads folder, although if I click on it, nothing actually happens (overtly, anyway). They are html files and take me to a blank page; they are named with a random mix of letters and numbers - there are more than five just in my very recent downloads. Nonetheless, it is very disconcerting to see them appear in my downloads folder, and the adverts should be vetted properly so that potentially damaging ones like this do not happen.

I am using Firefox on a desktop Mac which has inbuilt virus etc protection. I can't tell which ad is doing this as it has usually changed by the time I have seen it. I have never clicked on any of the ads to trigger this. too many of the ads on here are already very dodgy looking and I wouldn't ever trust them any way, but this is particularly bad as it could be malicious.

Thanks, Maple.

still happening.

I was on Threads I'm Watching at the time I believe. the adverts were the Freederm one again, one for leather jewellery boxes (monica something) and one about ukranian care donations.

It's really concerning that you are allowing potential malware to be downloaded on users' computers

Hello @MapleSyrupWaffles we're sorry it's still happening. We are looking into this now - thank you for the additional information.

Hi again @MapleSyrupWaffles we've looked into this with our ad monitoring people and have not found any evidence that the file type here is malicious. As we've been unable to recreate the issue, we suspect it's related to your browser rather than a specific ad. However, we are continuing to monitor this activity.

In the meantime, we recommend you try the following:
Stop AutoDownloads on the browser
Copy/Paste about:preferences to the Address Bar and Enter
Go Down to Downloads and change to "Always Ask".
You can custom select the file types you are happy to auto download

You can also change your browser configuration so that ads will never trigger a download:
Copy and paste about:config to the address bar and press Enter (Accept the Risk and Continue)
Search dom.security.https_only_mode_send_http_background_request
Change to False

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-config-editor-firefox

Ok thanks; I already have the 'always ask' setting on ,but I have also changed the configuration file now, so will see if that helps.

This continues to happen - in fact two downloads at once today (which has occasionally happened before, though usually it's just one). I suspect it's happening to others as well, but they may not notice if they have certain settings on, as if you don't catch it quickly, it disappears and you wouldn't know (my desktop is quite an old/slow computer, so I tend to see it!). I have all the settings correct as described above. The fact that it gives a dialog box now means I can stop them from saving, but they really shouldn't be trying to download things on people's computers in the first place. This a problem with the ad service fundamentally. today's ads were UAid for Ukraine at the top, another amazon beauty product at the side, and the mumsnet voices ad at the bottom. however, I don't know for sure that they are the ones that caused the problem, as they don't show up immediately - it could be that they were the new ones that come once the problematic ads have been cancelled in the drop down save box.

It was a random thread in Chat, that I accessed via the 'active threads' page.

And a month later, with still no solution or reply, it continues to happen. Only when using Mumsnet and this potentially dangerous ad system.

@MapleSyrupWaffles This isn’t anything to do with Mumsnet. It’s a known, years old issue with the Firefox browser. It’s triggered intermittently when there’s iframes on the page being rendered, which is what mumsnet uses for ads.

Consider using a different browser if it bothers you, the files are empty and don’t contain anything malicious.

Example 1
Example 2
Example

thank you, that is useful to know. It has only ever happened to me on mumsnet, but I guess that is the only ad-heavy site

I just googled this as it keeps happening to me, only on mumsnet so its still an issue.

Hi @housethatbuiltme

Please can you give us some details of the advert that seem to be causing problems? A screenshot of the ad would be very helpful, as well as knowing which device/browser and version of the site you're using.

Thanks in advance.