warning about hybridz

[Zed Head]

Someone on Hybridz just reported the same issue with Avast. I wonder if some other virus is using a fake Avast message to get people to click their links.

[Lazeum]

It's me who made a post about it. Very annoying and it still does it!

What I've got is a message from my browser telling me server has closed the connection.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Lazeum

[Zed Head]

I just plugged the words below into Google and got some interesting results.

fake avast virus warnings

[bblackmoor]

We checked, no virus. False warning from Avast which sometimes occurs for a few users after a board software update. The OP's post about the virus warning on Hybridz had a link to a site in Russia that was flagged by the anti-spam software and also manually by a couple other users. That's why he was banned.

Oh, for pete's sake. I was trying to report a virus warning, and in the process wound up pasting a link not to AVG, but to some other site masquerading as AVG. ...sigh...

Please accept my apologies.

Edited June 12, 2013 by bblackmoor

[bblackmoor]

Admins, please go up and remove that link from the first post. Or just delete this whole thread. Gah.

[soundmasterg]

To the OP, your computer is probably infected with spyware. Go to www.trendmicro.com or Internet Security - Antivirus - Online backup - Mobile Security - Anti-Virus for Mac - Free Antivirus | F-Secure and run some of the free antivirus scans and get rid of the garbage that is on your computer. Be warned that due to the garbage on your computer interfering with everything, the free online scans may not work as the spyware may stop them. Also, if they do work, the scans will take a loooong time...like half a day or more.

Greg

[John Coffey]

Spamming is rampant and a big issue for folks that run web sites. This site and most others run various forms of anti-spam software and ISPs do the same. Every day the software used on Hybridz blocks hundreds of spam attempts. We also have checks on user signups, an authentication process, and blocking based on known spammer IPs. Even then, we get about a dozen spammers a day who get through all of this. We try not to ban legit users but sometimes that happens. Again, we all have days jobs and try to manage the site in our spare time.

[John Coffey]

BTW... if one of the Google ads thrown up on Hybridz has a virus link Avast will display that warning. Dan talks about a solution using Google's DNS here:

Avast Antivirus is blocking hbz? - Site Support - HybridZ

[Mike]

I just checked Hybridz and don't see a problem with their server. There are a LOT of factors that could be at play here.

- An ad that appears on a banner.

- Over-paranoid antivirus software (trying to upsell you to a paid version)

- Toolbars installed on your browser.

- A virus on your computer.

- Something buried in HybridZ that only appears on certain forums.

All-in-all, I highly suggest getting rid of Avast or AVG. These programs are free, but, they are packed full of warnings and false positives to scare you into buying their paid versions. If you want a good antivirus software package, fully supported by Microsoft, please try using Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows . I use this program on my Windows clients and have never had a problem. The last of unwanted virus warnings and hardcore up-sell tactics.

Mike

[red_dog007]

Im on Windows 8. MSE is no longer a standalone security feature, but now built into Windows Defender.

The other day I was getting basically "Enter at your own risk" actually Google itself.

You could easily get to the forum main page, but trying to branch out anywhere was a no go.

So that should make out over-paranoid anti-virus. They have no active advertisements, so that is a no go. Not toolbars, or add-ons as my add-ons don't do that.

Could be something on my PC which I highly doubt.

If it is still on and off going, there might be something deep inside the forum somewhere. Could maybe even a virus on a picture, avatar or signature that was uploaded. Who knows. But I tend to not enter when that happens.

Now if the site is completely clean, Hybridz needs to pick some beef with Google because Google is only hurting that community if they keep randomly giving a warning page to users wanting to explore that website.

It isn't doing it now, but I should have drive it in IE and FF cause I was using Chrome.

[SteveInOakland]

I've been getting the Avast warning on HybridZ as well, running Avast on my Mac. This is probably only the second or third such warning I've gotten in 6 months or so of running Avast. I don't think that post #18 is correct, i.e. that the OP's computer is infected and that's why he's getting this result; whatever is in fact going on, I don't think that's what it is.

Steve.

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