Blog follower = phishing site

  • Unknown's avatar
    judyscarcinosarcomablog · Member ·

    I just created my blog a few weeks ago,l so I was happy when someone showed up and followed it. But as WordPress encourages us to do, I went and checked out that person’s blog to see why she was following me. And I immediately got hit with big scary pop-up warnings about how Microsoft had blocked my computer and someone was stealing all my personal information and I had to call an 800 number immediately to resolve the issue.

    Needless to say, I didn’t call. I immediately turned off my computer, which then ran a long series of “chkdsk” commands, and when the computer came back up, the flashing emergency pop-ups were still there.

    I ended all browser tasks in the Task Manager and ran a full scan with Trend Micro, which seems to have cleared up the problem. Windows updates had also been disabled, so I had to turn them back on.

    Obviously that site is either a phishing site or is compromised. I’m not going back there to report the URL or use the “Follow” option to report it. I’m hoping someone at WordPress can track it down and take it offline before other people run into this problem.

    User name is Nusrath Sariffo’deen. That’s all I can tell you without going back to the site and risking getting infected again. I hope to unsubscribe her from my blog, but for now will leave her there in hopes you can figure out where her blog is and kill it. Since her blog content didn’t seem to be at all related to my blog’s cancer topic, I suspect it is a phishing site.

    Thanks for any help!

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    timethief · Member ·

    I do not experience that when accessing https://honestwords1.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/a-journey-of-self-discovery/

    You could have either a connectivity issue or a browser related issue.

    Read all the tips here https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/

    • Make sure you are running an up to date browser version found at http://browsehappy.com
    • Make sure you have both JavaScript and third party cookies enabled https://en.support.wordpress.com/third-party-cookies/#how-do-i-enable-third-party-cookies.
    • Disable any adblocker browser add-ons.
    • Try clearing your browser cache https://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/#clearing-your-browser-cache
    • Try using another browser.

    If you are not successful please post this specific info here:
    (a) Exactly what kind of device you are using to connect to the internet and to WordPress.com.
    (b) Exactly which browser (and version of it) you’re using by checking here if necessary http://supportdetails.com/

    Then type modlook into the sidebar tags on this thread for a Staff follow-up. How do I get a Moderator/Staff reply for my question? https://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-help-in-the-forums/#how-do-i-get-a-moderatorstaff-reply-for-my-question Also subscribe to this thread so you are notified when they respond and be patient while waiting. To subscribe look in the sidebar of this thread, find the subscribe to topics link and click it.

  • Unknown's avatar
    timethief · Member ·

    I hope to unsubscribe her from my blog, but for now will leave her there in hopes you can figure out where her blog is and kill it.

    You can unsubscribe from any site you are following here https://wordpress.com/following/manage simply locate the site URL and click the following link so it changes to unfollowing.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    “Nusrath Sariffo’deen” is a public display name, not a username, but I found that user in your followers. Thanks for not removing them before I could have a look.

    I see nothing that would indicate that is a phishing site – Phishing refers to when a site tries to look like it’s your bank or email provider or any other site you visit regularly, in order to trick you into trying to log in so they can steal your passwords and other personal information. There is nothing like that on that user’s site.

    It does look like their site might be infected by malware, something they’re most likely not even aware of themselves. But as that site is not hosted on WordPress.com there’s nothing we can do about that.

    Since her blog content didn’t seem to be at all related to my blog’s cancer topic, I suspect it is a phishing site.

    So only people who write about cancer themselves are allowed to read your blog? Just because someone doesn’t write about cancer, it doesn’t mean they’re not interested in the topic, or enjoy your writing style. I don’t follow a single blog that writes about the exact same stuff I write about. I follow them because the interest me and I like reading them. There’s no reason to assume this user is any different.

    If you want to remove them from your followers, you can do that from My Site ->People as @timethief indicated, but there’s nothing that prevents them from re-following your site.

  • Unknown's avatar
    judyscarcinosarcomablog · Member ·

    Thanks for the speedy and high-quality responses. I should have mentioned that the problem didn’t happen till I went to her “About” page (or something like that). But since the site isn’t hosted by you, there’s no need for me to trouble you further.

    Thanks again!

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