Did I Get Malware, Virus etc by Clicking These Links on OzBargain?

HairyChickens on 15/07/2020 - 20:51
Last edited 16/07/2020 - 01:18 by 2 other users

Hi everyone, so tonight I was bored and I decided to claim some free samples. I came across this post 84 $0 Freebies/Samples (Links in Description) which seemed legit judging by the number of up votes. But upon clicking on some of the links I noticed that some of them redirected me to some weird websites listed below.

Now I am really paranoid that my computer has been infected. Should I be concerned about this

For example the Dermal Face Masks redirected me to this:

https://best-finance-investment.com/live/AULP/?sxid=6x69ugba…

Here are more examples

https://socialtechprofit.com/?pname=Bitcoin%20Loophole&a=186…

https://port48.govisibl.com/dlv/c.php?cca=141417&ccz=2232&CL…

Here is my full history
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/338565/81294/virus.png

This was posted during 2016 but I didn't think much of it. Looking back I think I should've because this post is so old I have a feeling some people with malicious intents may have claimed that URL and made it so redirects to these dodgy sites.

Any help/advice/insight will be greatly appreciated.

I also ran a Full Scan using Trend Mirco Maximum Security and it came up with no threats. Malwarebytes Free also came up with nothing.

Thanks,
An extremely worries HairyChicken

Computing

Comments

  • Elegant Giant on 15/07/2020 - 21:03
    +1

    If you haven't:
    * downloaded & run anything from the sites
    * clicked in Chrome to "allow site xyz.com to show notifications / view your location" etc
    * Provided your credentials in any of the links they provided

    You should be fine. The redirects are, as you imagine, someone having taken control of that (potentially) legit url and redirecting to spam / a site attempting to sell you something (potentially phishy). Clicking on some of the links myself (in Incognito mode so as not to save cookies / link to existing ones etc) saw the dodgy-looking "ABC news" site (which was not ABC).

    If you did provide your email + password, you would want to change the password on any other site you use it on (not that you should be reusing passwords - use a password manager to use a unique password on each site). If you provided email only, congrats! ( /s)s You're probably signed up for a multitude of spam emails now.

    • HairyChickens on 15/07/2020 - 21:12

      As soon as I saw these dodgy websites and especially with that ABC news logo I was on high alert. So it is common sense (well to us at least) not to provide personal details.

      I do consider myself well-versed in technology so I rarely go to suspicious links. I probably felt too comfortable because it was OzBargain then again it was posted during 2016 so I should've been more careful there. (I should probably be more careful clicking random links no matter how reputable the site is.)

      Hopefully this is just me being overly paranoid about these links and your comment did alleviate some of it so thank you.

  • Friendly Troll on 15/07/2020 - 21:24
    +2

    Some links were blocked by my uBlock Origin browser add-on. Meaning: I think it's just dodgy marketing tactics. This is common (clicking on a specific link but then taking you elsewhere).

    If you are concerned about tracking, beef up your privacy (in particular, clear your cookies often): https://www.privacytools.io/browsers/#addons

    • HairyChickens on 15/07/2020 - 21:26

      Oh no not more links XD.

      But I'll definitely consider more protection solutions.

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 15/07/2020 - 21:44
    +1

    As said above if you haven’t downloaded anything, etc. then I wouldn’t be too worried. I see some of those ads occasionally on my iPad which is certainly not infected.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/07/2020 - 22:23
    -1

    Short answer, yes
    Long answer, also yes

    🤷‍♂️

  • No Username on 16/07/2020 - 10:50

    Download uBlock Origin
    For Chrome
    For Firefox

    Download AdBlocker Plus
    For Chrome
    For Firefox

    Download and run the following:
    R Kill
    AdwCleaner << This is different to Malwarebytes

  • follow on 16/07/2020 - 19:26

    why ublock and adblocker plus?

    • HairyChickens on 16/07/2020 - 21:18

      My guess is that they block suspicious links such as the ones I listed from loading, preventing any malicious intents caused by an attacker.

      • follow on 16/07/2020 - 21:51

        but both shouldn't be needed. ublock is enough

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