An important security notice to all members.

[Steve Ashton]

To all members of X Marks.

This is a notice about an important security issue.

In a recent post one of our members casually mentioned that they had received an unexpected and spam email addressed to their X Marks screen name.

This should never have happened. We do all we can to keep your personal information secure.

If you notice anything unusual or suspicious please contact a member of the staff immediatly.

If you do not tell us, we do not know that something has happened.

If someone gains access to our site with the intent of using our membership lists we need to know about it. We need to find out who they are and ban them from access to this forum.

But you must tell us.

I have posted my email address all over this site to allow any member to contact me at any time. You can even see my email address if you find that you can't log in.

You may also contact any member of the staff, at any time, for any reason.

Information security is a real concern in today's world and I take it very seriously.

Please, if you notice anything suspicious or which causes you concern, Contact Me Immediatly.


p.s.
If you receive a suspicious email - Do Not delete the email. We will need it to extract the IP address of the sending computer from the email headers.

[revjohnnym]

i had a strange thing happen when I tried to get to the sight by way of google yesterday I was diverted to another sight which had nothing to do with X marks the scot. I then could not get off that page and my Avast informed me threat was detected. I could get on the Xmarks the Scot through a link on face book however. To night I had no problem. I cannot remember what was on the bogus page.

[Downunder Kilt]

Same thing happened the last 2 days when I first tried to connect to this site thru my favourites list. It only happened on my first attempt to connect to the site for the day. After that every other attempt has gone straight thru. As soon as my security screen appears I close down, so can't advise as to what feral site I am being shuttled to.

[Phil E. Begg]

Indeed. Just now I was hit with a re-direct from the Google page; it was the first time I had been in for a long while. The direct link from Google to the Forum page was fine, though.

Phil

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do about a bogus site. I don't use Google and have never experienced this, so perhaps the problem lies there?

Another thought is perhaps that instead of clicking through to X Marks the Scot, you are accidentally clicking on to X Marks (formerly Fox Marks) a site to download a program that syncs bookmarks between different computers. I do get a warning that their badge has expired from time to time when I go there on purpose.

[CDNSushi]

IMPORTANT: If you are having problems, CHECK THIS FIRST!

If you are being redirected to a bogus site even through your favorites list (rather than a Google search) I would venture to guess that you may have a virus or spyware on your end...

A few months ago, I was de-lousing a friend's PC, and that's exactly that was happening. Some sort of malware corrupted her HOSTS file. The result was exactly that. Any attempt to use Google (and certain other sites) would redirect her to bogus sites.

If you are having redirection issues through Google, or your saved bookmarks/favorites... Please check your PC for virii and malware first!

I have been looking at these reports from my end as well, and have been unable to replicate this, leading me to suspect some kind of problem on the host computer rather than anything at Google's end or with the XMTS servers.

[Downunder Kilt]

The problem I have only showed up on my Xmarks favourite button. I have about 40 other favourite sites and went thru them all today and the only one I got diverted on was the XMarks and it only happens the first time I use it. I have run 2 malware/spyware programs thru my computer and nothing has come up.

[CMcG]

I have no problem with my bookmarks or a regular Google search.

When I go to Xmarksthescot through a Google image search, I consistently get a spam popup and then the image tries to redirect me to a bogus site (url123.info). I can get around it but it is annoying.

The problem is not on my end. Earlier today, I updated my virus definitions and did a full system scan.

[CDNSushi]

Thanks for the extra info... I have an idea what this may be -- currently discussing it with Steve. Please be patient, everyone! Hopefully this can be cleared up soon!

EDIT: I can now reproduce the problem. Now let's see if we can get a solution! ith:

[Blackrose87]

I don't know if this helps at all, but the same thing is happening from my iPad, so I'd assume it isn't a windows problem or windows based virus.