Recently we've received several reports of visitors seeing anti-virus messages pop-up while browsing ThriftyFun.
We want to assure everyone that we don't serve pop-up or pop-under advertising. We do not give permission for any of the advertisers on our site to advertise in this way. None of the ads on our website should be served in this fashion.
We monitor the site for viruses and other problems and we don't believe that these pop-up advertisements are coming from one of our advertisers or from the site itself. However, since virus writers can be tricky, it can be hard to tell exactly where a given message is coming from.
Anti-virus software is essential. We particularly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. This is a free anti-virus package for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 from Microsoft.
If you are on Macintosh, make sure that you upgrade to Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) and that you run Software Update to get the latest updates from Apple. Apple has automatic tools which monitor downloads and remove known viruses.
If you see a pop-up message from virus software that you do not recognize, please don't click on it. Follow the instructions in the link below for more information.
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There are a lot of viruses that pop up these virus warning alerts as a way of tricking you into installing them. They are very hard to get rid of (my son helpfully clicked on one of these messages and installed it, we had to reformat). Be sure you know what anti-virus software you have installed.
The first time my computer repair man worked on my computer, he installed a couple free downloads, for me and got rid of the Norton Internet Security that I had bought. He said the free downloads are better than the purchased ones. Every now and then I get a message that flashes up that says a threat was blocked. However, every now and then a virus does sneak by.
Many internet providers will throw in antivirus protection. With my ATT service I have McAfee.
I had this happen to me by clicking on things in various Thrifty Fun newsletters three times in less than a week! I don't know what was going on, but I was getting a little concerned and it only happened on Thrifty Fun, so I don't think it was something in my computer or another website!
I am also having random problems with pop-ups (my security system automatically shows 'pop-ups blocked') happening when I am visiting ThriftyFun sponsors. Have also had other problems like a comment I posted not showing up and then when tried to re-post the original comment a day later all of a sudden that original post automatically popped up below my re-post along with everyone else's posts that also didn't initially show up. Oh, and some votes for submissions are mysteriously not being counted both mine for others and others for mine.
Sorry to say, because I so much enjoy being a TF family member for five plus years now, but things simply haven't been right since the April 26th reformat upgrade. I hope all of the 'glitches' are repaired soon - It's been almost three months since the upgrade and the upgrade has caused frustration for many other folk besides myself. :-(
Maybe it's just me. I've never had a problem on TF. I currently have the AVG free edition, helpfully installed for me by a TWC techie when the one TWC recommended was incompatible with my screen-reader. It's blocked at least on threat, but I don't think it was on TF.
I back up my files every day, at least, those I know I've worked on. I use the "safely remove hardware" wizard to eject the flash drive between backups to avoid contamination. I'm on Facebook a lot, but I use the mobile site which lacks all those bothersome apps. I don't download anything unless I know it's what I intended, either! I especially don't download from Facebook. I've heard too much about viruses spreading that way.
Last but not least. I've received a couple of troubling "bounce-back" emails, which I suspect were lurking viruses. The body of the emails essentially said my system had a "barracuda reputation" and I had to register my IP address to "undo" it. I visited the site in the email once by copying and pasting the url, and didn't feel secure about even that. I think I should be glad the Captcha device prevented my advancing beyond the intro page!
I wouldn't suggest using the real-time free anti-software suggested by a user below. The problem with those programs is that they often interfere with legitimate programs your computer is trying to run.
If you have Windows you have a built-in antivirus in your system called Windows Defender. Search for it and be sure it is enabled. Also set your security and firewall on your computer to the settings you want and check to see it is working properly.
Use a safe browser such as Google Chrome. Internet Explorer is the least safe browser. You can also set security features on your browser.
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