I was updating my logbook data and when I was done, clicked on a link labeled "Continue" at the bottom of the page. Guess my bad-net-actor radar was a little off, and I guess I trusted qrz.com not to allow any harmful advertising. My trust was obviously misplaced. The link opened a page that did it all -- went full screen, disabled my mouse, tried to download multiple files, and popped up warnings that my computer was at risk and I needed to call this number NOW to restore functionality. Sorry, guys. There's just no place for anything like that on a site like this. I'll assume that the ad was placed by a third-party ad service, and you weren't aware of its content. If you prove otherwise -- by not *immediately* removing it -- I'll just have to live without qrz.com.
Like you suggest, malvertising is often not the fault of the site or even the ad company, they are victims too. It is also not impossible that you triggered something that was already on your PC. Maybe that is less likely, but it only takes a few minutes to do a quick scan with a free tool, just to lower that possibility even further. I hope this doesn't come across as condescending, it certainly sounds like you know exactly what you are doing, but it never hurts to overexplain a little, right?
A reasonable question, but no. That's not it. The problem was definitely caused by the ad I described. I just checked, and the same ad is still at the bottom of the Logbook Settings page. Try it for yourself! Ultimately, the responsibility for something like this lies with the site operator. Ad networks definitely can police the content of the ads they serve. One like this would never be served by one of the more reputable networks. And site operators like qrz.com have control over which networks they join. Of course sketchy content like what I described pays a lot better than more innocuous content. It's up to site operators to uphold certain standards on behalf of their users (and their own reputation) even if it means declining the short-term benefit of malicious ads.
I would, but it is more difficult than it sounds. My primary LAN adblocker is router-based, and my phone is rooted and has both hostfile based blocking, and some mods that essentially break in-app Google ads, so even switching to 4G wouldn't show it to me. I could temporarily change the router around, but the family is upstairs happily watching Supernatural on Netflix, and if I interrupted Sam and Dean killing vampires, it would take days to get out of the doghouse.
This what I see... Get a QRZ Logbook status page for your website! CLICK HERE Got questions? Check out the Logbook User Forum. And when I Click Here nothing untoward happens.
Over the years, I've read a few tales like this here. Usually turned out that the web browser history file was where this website (and others) were getting direction when showing advertisements. My browsers don't show me any advertisements for two reasons: Adblock and subscriptions. I subscribe here and never see any ads on any devices. For the other places I go, there's Adblock, an add on that works every well.
