Banning Link-Protector, et al

This I posted in a thread that I regularily visit, but it pertains to the entire site:

I'd be a heck of a lot happier if you guys would stop using link-protector & all the other so called link-protecting sites. ALL THESE GUYS DO IS STEAL (PHISH) RapidShare accounts. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS - YOU ARE HELPING TO STEAL SOMEONE'S ACCOUNTS. Every one of these sites has been banned on the major warez sites where we have 300-600,000 members per site. If you don't believe me, Google warez & add in advanced search: "warezbb" & "forumw" & you'll see in big bold letters that all link protector sites have been banned for phishing.
I'm sure I'm not the only one of our 140,000 members that frequents warez daily & is well aware of this fact. Unless you are being paid for helping to steal someone else's account, please stop using these pathetic sites. Thank you.





EDIT: Here is an example of why these hosting sites should be banned. I know that they use a portion of Microsoft Outlook to steal your information so I never install it as part of my Office Suite. Specifically, it's the part of the program that allows Microsoft to obtain licences on your behalf. If I had installed it on my PC, Link-Protector which was hosting the links which created the pop-ups would have effortlessly stolen my RS.com links, all address book entries, etc. I'd like to see someone try & defend these clowns after looking at these Steal Attempts!!!

Underdog,

I'm shocked that this issue has not been flagged before. Link- Protector is a problem on many fronts including the phishing issue you identify.

However, there is more to the story than this - adware, spyware (in the form of trojans) also result from using L-P.

I speak from experience.

I hope the mods hear you

I haven't seen anything like that yet, but I'm surfing with Firefox and Adblock Plus and certain Spywareblocker, so that may be the reason.
I never use IE (so it is installed on my PC for WIN XP Updates) nor Outlook (Thunderbird is much better).

Added two screenshots of a protected MU link.

As you can see, no adds, no popups, and no form to fill.

I can ask the other mods, but I recommend surfing with FF.
If anyone has questions about FF, feel free to ask here.

Monkey D. Ruffy

Unfortunately, I do not know enough to evaluate each and every link protector site, or file hosting site. Most of them have adware or malware, but I filter them out automatically. If I get any alerts from a website, I ban it. The link protector sites are not even necessary or really beneficial.

You can protect you links in other ways;

*Don't use porn star names or movie titles in your file names.
*Rar and password protect your files.
*Use the Code feature when linking to a website, don't leave a traffic trail. Or change the color of the text to disable the hotlink.


*Here is a way to make it more difficult to copy your links and report them.

[ url=linkgoeshere ] textgoeshere [ /url] << take out the spaces

[url=http://Rapidshare.com]Clickable Link to Rapidshare[/url]


You can also try using one of these sites to block the trail back to the forum;

anonym.to
tinyurl

Thanks for the advice Monkey D. Ruffy and Deity. I will take it (after I have restored my operating system - which is the only way I can think of to get rid of the virus). I have tried every other virus removal software I can think of.

I should add that I do use Firefox and it got infected through Link-Protector - this is why I was so shocked.

underdog, nobody here is 'being paid to help people steal RS accounts' or whatever the point of your post was.

As to the use of 'cloaking sites', just last week I had remarked on the use of such means, and in the coming days
I expect that we, the Moderators, will debate the merits of same and arrive at a decision regarding the future
use of link-hiding methods here at Forumophilia.

I got rid of the vundo (or virtumondo) L-P derived virus without needing to restore my system. It took a while but if anyone out there needs info' on this ask here. My three weeks of hell and downloading every f&6v*( anti-spyware B7l**^s eventually paid off and I will happily share info'

I would also like to day BIG THANKS to Monkey D R for his advice about Firefox (FF) with Adblock Plus. Works great! Cheers MDR

stripes5 wrote:

Oh, thanks for your reply

I think it's much better to use FF with certain Add-ons than IE.



I love it

Monkey D. Ruffy