Was Auctiva hacked? Blocked by Google & Firefox for malicious software, suspicious content, and malware

I love Auctiva, the 3rd party eBay provider with lots of free services for eBay sellers and I use their services very often. But when I went to log in today I got these warnings.

Firstly, on the Google search results page (the red circles are mine):

I figured that Google search was just being a little overzealous so I clicked through anyway. To my surprise, I get this next:

Now I’m annoyed. I just want to visit the website, darn it. So I click the Safe Browsing diagnostics page hoping it will let me through. Instead it gives me this:

Safe Browsing

Diagnostic page for auctiva.com

What is the current listing status for auctiva.com?

Site is listed as suspicious – visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 1 time(s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 42 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 0 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-02-21, and suspicious content was never found on this site within the past 90 days.

This site was hosted on 3 network(s) including AS16509 (AMAZON), AS174 (COGENT), AS14744 (INTERNAP).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, auctiva.com did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?

In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:

Three messages in a row? Google means business. But was Auctiva’s site actually hacked or found of using maleware or is this all a strange over-policing by Google. There is no news anywhere on it so I don’t know if even Auctiva itself knows its been blacklisted.

What is really annoying is that you absolutely cannot visit the site when using Google at all and when typing the address into the address bar, though you can get through if you choose, you get a big red message from Firefox.

Now sellers have to make the decision as to whether they trust their past history with Auctiva enough to still use it or whether to avoid the site as Google and Firefox says. I for one am changing my plans to use it today as they have successfully scared me off. But Auctiva has never given me any reason to not trust it before so this is very odd.

Share this page:

  • email
  • Twitter
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Facebook
  • MySpace
  • LinkedIn
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Slashdot
  • Add to favorites

Related posts

Comments Posted in Auctiva, What's the deal with this?, eBay
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
  • fyi www.sellerwise.net is now up and going and provide a similar service to sellathon. there is a trial available as an alternative to the auctiva code (which contains the links that are flagged by google)
  • Thanks to everyone for their input on this issue. I'm glad Auctiva seems to be aware of it though it makes me feel very strange that Auctiva is staying quiet about what the issue is and recommending bypassing the safety measures. That makes me really uncomfortable as a user and I think they better explain soon or risk using a ton of user confidence.

    As for anyone with a eBay listing to pay for, I will post some work-around suggestions in a moment.
  • curlymo82
    I won an auction tonight and went to pay for my item and encountered all of this. What are good next steps to pay for my items. I did message the seller who I'm waiting to hear back from. I really want what I won. Is there a way that the seller can skirt around Auctiva and still charge through paypal and ebay?
  • JLR
    I was foolish enough to launch IE7 and get to the auctiva website... IE7 crashed on the loading of auctiva.com. Since then I've been plagued by unknown processes and popups. This is the very first time I've been infected by malware and to think I didn't even click on anything...
  • You are RIGHT on POINT, this is very serious for many of us. I am watching Auctiva with you over at http://3rdPOBlogs.com/ColderICE
  • Reece
    Auctiva Mike D.
    Auctiva Support
    Elite

    Posted February 21, 2009 09:51 AM
    Hi Community,

    As many of you may have already noticed, we are receiving more reports that some users are receiving warnings from their antivirus software stating the Auctiva website may be a malicious site. Our engineering team is in the process of working on this problem and we will get it resolved as soon as possible. The Auctiva website may be slower than usual as a result of the emergency work we are doing.

    I will post further updates on this situation to the following thread as additional information becomes available. Thanks for understanding.

    -Mike

    This message has been edited. Last edited by: Auctiva Mike D., February 21, 2009 10:07 AM

    Posts: 4596 | Registered: October 28, 2005 Edit or Delete MessageReport This Post
    Auctiva Mike D.
    Auctiva Support
    Elite

    Posted February 21, 2009 01:53 PM Hide Post
    Hi Community,

    Update - I just heard from our IT team and am pleased to report that users should not longer receive warnings from their antivirus software while on the Auctiva website. However, the site is still running on fewer servers than normal so it may be slower then usual for a little while longer.

    We are working on getting some additional servers configured and we'll be adding those back to the rotation as soon as they are ready. As those are added back throughout the rest of the day, we expect the speed of the site to continue to improve.

    I will post further updates on this situation to this thread as additional information becomes available. Thanks again for bearing with us.

    -Mike

    Posts: 4596 | Registered: October 28, 2005 Edit or Delete MessageReport This Post
    Ignored post by Auctiva Mike D. posted February 21, 2009 01:53 PM Show Post
    Auctiva Mike D.
    Auctiva Support
    Elite

    Posted February 21, 2009 03:05 PM Hide Post
    Hi Community,

    Update - If you are using the Firefox browser and are unable to use your account because you are receiving a warning stating the Auctiva is an "attack site", you should be able to workaround it by selecting "Options" from the "Tools" menu and disabling the "tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected attack site" setting under the "Security" tab.

    We have removed what was causing that warning to be displayed from our systems but that warning is still showing up because we need to be rescanned by Google, which we are going to do as soon as we finish up the work we're doing.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our customer support team using the web form on the following page of our site: http://www.auctiva.com/help/requesthelp.aspx. I'll post further updates to this thread as additional information becomes available.

    -Mike

    Posts: 4596 | Registered: October 28, 2005

    Hope this helps
  • Reece
    On Auctiva message boards it said this:
    Auctiva Mike D.
    Auctiva Support
    Elite

    Posted February 21, 2009 09:51 AM
    Hi Community,

    As many of you may have already noticed, we are receiving more reports that some users are receiving warnings from their antivirus software stating the Auctiva website may be a malicious site. Our engineering team is in the process of working on this problem and we will get it resolved as soon as possible. The Auctiva website may be slower than usual as a result of the emergency work we are doing.

    I will post further updates on this situation to the following thread as additional information becomes available. Thanks for understanding.

    -Mike

    This message has been edited. Last edited by: Auctiva Mike D., February 21, 2009 10:07 AM

    Posts: 4596 | Registered: October 28, 2005 Edit or Delete MessageReport This Post
    Auctiva Mike D.
    Auctiva Support
    Elite

    Posted February 21, 2009 01:53 PM Hide Post
    Hi Community,

    Update - I just heard from our IT team and am pleased to report that users should not longer receive warnings from their antivirus software while on the Auctiva website. However, the site is still running on fewer servers than normal so it may be slower then usual for a little while longer.

    We are working on getting some additional servers configured and we'll be adding those back to the rotation as soon as they are ready. As those are added back throughout the rest of the day, we expect the speed of the site to continue to improve.

    I will post further updates on this situation to this thread as additional information becomes available. Thanks again for bearing with us.

    -Mike

    Posts: 4596 | Registered: October 28, 2005 Edit or Delete MessageReport This Post
    Ignored post by Auctiva Mike D. posted February 21, 2009 01:53 PM Show Post
    Auctiva Mike D.
    Auctiva Support
    Elite

    Posted February 21, 2009 03:05 PM Hide Post
    Hi Community,

    Update - If you are using the Firefox browser and are unable to use your account because you are receiving a warning stating the Auctiva is an "attack site", you should be able to workaround it by selecting "Options" from the "Tools" menu and disabling the "tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected attack site" setting under the "Security" tab.

    We have removed what was causing that warning to be displayed from our systems but that warning is still showing up because we need to be rescanned by Google, which we are going to do as soon as we finish up the work we're doing.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our customer support team using the web form on the following page of our site: http://www.auctiva.com/help/requesthelp.aspx. I'll post further updates to this thread as additional information becomes available.

    -Mike

    Posts: 4596 | Registered: October 28, 2005


    Hope this helps
  • Emma Browne
    Having the same problem. This is also detrimental to our eBay listings - not a great look when potential buyers click on links to view supersized images and get the warning page!
    If Google have made a mistake they may be up for a class action on this one; a lot of reputations, other than Auctiva's, may be impacted.
  • Robert
    I have had all of the above, plus I can't get to my eBay listings using Firefox or Chrome. I clicked on through the warnings when trying to access my auctions (with images hosted by Auctiva) on eBay and my computer shut down! I restarted and was fine with explorer. Ultra strange...

    Robert
  • Dave
    I uploaded a bunch of stuff last night (Friday night) to eBay through my Auctiva account and it was VERY slow going. Eventually I got an on-screen message from Auctiva stating that they had "several servers down for maintenance and the site would be moving slower than usual."

    This is consistent with a denial of service attack situation.

    I'm hoping Auctiva gets this resolved immediately as all my eBay listings are through Auctiva!

    Anybody have a good email for Auctiva (one they might actually see/answer) to ensure they know about the problem on a weekend?

    Dave
  • Dan
    Something is definitely wrong at Auctiva - but don't forget that google was labeling a lot of innocent sites as 'dangerous' about a month or two ago, because some google employee used the wrong setting, or some such excuse they gave. I am all for web security. Auctiva may have been hacked. But nobody knows yet what really happened. And nobody is perfect, not even google. . . .
  • Jesse
    I recently got this message, and can only assume the worse. I don't think Google would block a website casually; this is going to be detrimental to Auctiva's business. I don't want to take the risk that the site has been hacked and someone has stolen my eBay credentials. I've already revoked Auctivas security Token through eBay (You can do this on the "My Ebay" screen), changed my eBay password, and changed my security question. I will not be returning to Auctiva again.

    I suggest you do the same.
  • shannon
    Thank you for putting this into lame-man's terms. I have a hard time explaining things like this, but you basically took the thoughts right out of my mind.
    I only hope enough people read this, so they know EXACTLY what is going on, on OUR (Auctiva's customers') end.
    I also wanted to add that I have had 2 "Q's for seller" that have claimed to get the blaring red screen or trojan alert through virus software, when "clicking to enlarge" images.

    Thanks again.
blog comments powered by Disqus