# Aaagh! I just clicked on a spam link! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265 "2010-07-28T03:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/1 "2010-07-28T03:26:00Z")
I got an e-mail from my little sister today. No subject line and just a URL in the body. Like an idiot, I automatically click on it (“it” in this case being [veduzix.t35.com](http://veduzix.t35.com)). It goes there, then goes to [tabletmedicationsrx.net](http://tabletmedicationsrx.net). Horrified, I quickly close the window. I’m on a Mac, and running Firefox with NoScript and ABP turned on by default for all non-familiar sites. Am I in any trouble here, computer-wise? My sister uses a Mac too, so I didn’t think it would be a problem…but then, her e-mail is on Yahoo, and she could use a PC at work for all I know. But she’s not my main concern right now; I am! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/2 "2010-07-28T03:36:52Z")
You didn’t download anything? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/3 "2010-07-28T03:41:47Z")
You can Google _[tabletmedicationsrx.net](http://tabletmedicationsrx.net)_. From the lack of discussion of problems when doing so, I’d venture it’s just advertising, not malware. I’ve been fooled into going to a few pill-pushing sites with no adverse effects to my knowledge. I think you’re okay. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/4 "2010-07-28T03:46:56Z")
Your computer will explode on May 22, 2011. Luckily for you, the world will have ended the previous day, so you won’t notice. Seriously, if you didn’t download anything, and you’re running a Mac, odds are you’re pretty safe at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/5 "2010-07-28T03:47:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You didn’t download anything? I don’t know. I didn’t see anything. First the linked site loaded, then immediately redirected to the Canadian pill site. No windows or password requests popped up. But just because I didn’t see anything doesn’t mean absolutely nothing happened. (OTOH, I hear Windows does the whole “you DLed something, but it’s completely hidden from you” a LOT more than Macs.) > [@Gary\_T](#): > > You can Google _[tabletmedicationsrx.net](http://tabletmedicationsrx.net)_. From the lack of discussion of problems when doing so, I’d venture it’s just advertising, not malware. I’ve been fooled into going to a few pill-pushing sites with no adverse effects to my knowledge. I think you’re okay. I’d be happy with merely infuriating. Of course, if one of my sister’s computers is infected somehow, that’s another story, which is why I asked. Need that be true for her to have “sent” this mail? ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/6 "2010-07-29T20:57:17Z")
Just clicking on a link won’t hurt you. I assume you have virus protection too of course. The question I have is whether it came from your sister or not. It did not have a subject. This one feature sometimes used by the spammer that harvested all those Yahoo mail addresses. They could have spoofed the sender as your sister. The URL is probably just a retail site. Why they think anybody would buy anything is such a situation shows how dumb they are. Just something to consider. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/7 "2010-07-30T02:07:12Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > Just clicking on a link won’t hurt you. I assume you have virus protection too of course. . Very few Mac owners have add-on non-Apple virus protection. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaagh-i-just-clicked-on-a-spam-link/548265/8 "2010-08-02T11:10:13Z")
You’re fine. There are very few Mac viruses, and you cannot get them by just clicking on a link. And, no your sister didn’t send it. She could have been hacked, or it could just be someone\* who intercepted a mass email from her, saw your address on it, and thus pretended to be her to send you a message. Unless your sister is a human spammer. \*someone is likely not human.