Why are links on my blog being click-jacked?

amzolt · Member · Mar 1, 2013 at 9:18 pm
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First, this only happens when I’m not logged into my blog and only on Firefox—not on Chrome or Explorer.

I added links to merchants for my book on this page: https://nfaa.wordpress.com/about-our-book/

The links for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iPad, and Kobo (only when I’m not logged-in on Firefox) show this message:

This Connection is Untrusted
You have asked Firefox to connect
securely to wordpress.redirectingat.com, but we can’t confirm that your connection is secure.
Normally, when you try to connect securely,
sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are
going to the right place. However, this site’s identity can’t be verified.

What Should I Do?

If you usually connect to
this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is
trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn’t continue.

wordpress.redirectingat.com uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is only valid for the following names:
*.skimresources.com , skimresources.com

(Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)

How is this happening?

I never signed up with skimresources.com…

The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
raincoaster · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 2:32 am
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Are you using affiliate links or plain text links?
amzolt · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 2:47 am
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Not used to those terms…

Here are the links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
Kobo
amzolt · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 2:48 am
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Oops…

Didn’t know it would render them…

Hmmm…

Help?
staff-ozmodiar · Staff · Mar 2, 2013 at 4:08 am
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Using my Macbook, I do not see the message you are reporting when I click on those links in Firefox or Safari. It just takes me right to the page on Amazon or B&N or wherever.
amzolt · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 6:02 am
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Interesting, monkeybutler—just adds to my mystery…
raincoaster · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 7:29 am
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I think what you might be seeing is some browser infection. We are seeing a new kind of malware that masquerades as a useful browser extension, but instead plasters sites you look at with affiliate links (and the hacker who wrote the extension gets the affiliate income). In this case it looks like the program detects links that can be for-profit links and tries to convert them into affiliate links, but your Firefox recognizes the diversion and gives you an alert.

To check, disable ALL browser extensions. Then re-enable them one by one and check the links. If they are skimlinks again, you know which extension it is, and you can delete it entirely.
amzolt · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 5:12 pm
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Thanks, raincoaster, I’ll give it a try…
amzolt · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 5:22 pm
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One thing, though, raincoaster, why would it only happen when I’m not logged in to WordPress?

What would make it trigger off once I’m logged in??
raincoaster · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 10:40 pm
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True. I’ll flag this so staff can weigh in.
amzolt · Member · Mar 2, 2013 at 10:56 pm
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Thanks…
staff-blorbo · Staff · Mar 3, 2013 at 11:35 pm
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The links are working just fine for me too, I agree that this is probably some sort of malware in your browser.

First, please make sure that your browser is up to date by visiting http://whatbrowser.org/

If it is not, please try updating your browser or switching to a different browser.

If it is, please try these two things:

1. Try clearing your browser’s cache and cookies: http://en.support.wordpress.com/browser-issues/

2. Try with all browser extensions or add-ons temporarily disabled.
amzolt · Member · Mar 4, 2013 at 12:03 am
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I’ve done all those things…
staff-blorbo · Staff · Mar 4, 2013 at 12:09 am
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Ok then, please try a different browser, like Chrome. http://browsehappy.com/

It is entirely possible that this is malware infecting your entire computer, so switching to a different browser may not make a difference.

Either way, this isn’t happing on our end, so there really isn’t anything we can do.
amzolt · Member · Mar 4, 2013 at 12:10 am
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As I indicated at the beginning of this thread, I’ve already checked Chrome and Explorer—doesn’t happen there…
staff-blorbo · Staff · Mar 4, 2013 at 12:12 am
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Ok then, I’d recommend running a virus/malware scan on your computer, or having a professional investigate it.

The issue is not coming from us, so there really isn’t anything we can do.
amzolt · Member · Mar 4, 2013 at 12:13 am
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I have run scans and have real-time scanning…

Also, discussed the issue with two local professionals…

So, no one can help…

Great…
staff-blorbo · Staff · Mar 4, 2013 at 12:21 am
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It’s definitely not us, so at least we could eliminate that possibility.
amzolt · Member · Mar 4, 2013 at 8:35 pm
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In an effort to work this issue out, I called skimlinks and left a message…

I received the following email:

Hi There,

Thanks for reaching out.

It appears that Skimlinks is on your blog because it is on the WordPress.com platform. WordPress retains advertising rights on your blog in exchange for providing free hosting services. You should have the option to purchase your domain and/or pay for hosting. Should you move the blog over to WordPress.org, you will then be able to determine how the blog is monetized.

Hope this helps. Please reach out to (email visible only to moderators and staff) with any further questions.

Best,
Samir
justjennifer · Member · Mar 4, 2013 at 8:58 pm
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http://en.support.wordpress.com/advertising/ See the bottom of the page.

Note: To support the service (and keep free features free), we sometimes run advertisements from partners like Google, Sharethrough and SkimLinks. We try hard to only run them in limited places. If you would like to completely eliminate ads from appearing on your blog, we offer the No-Ads Upgrade.

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