# Internet browser opens sketchy web tabs that I didn't ask it to **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937 "2017-09-22T03:31:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/1 "2017-09-22T03:31:10Z")
I clicked on an ad for a dating website (not a good idea,) and its front page appeared semi-sketchy - not in the illegal-porn way, but more in the Ashley Madison sort of way or the “people-exchanging-scandalous-photos” way. So I click out of it. Then lo and behold, I find that it already opened up a different page I didn’t ask it to. I didn’t see anything resembling illegal porn on it - (well, not yet) - it had a box saying “This page is asking you to confirm that you want to leave - data you have entered may not be saved.” It had a sketchy-foreign-website vibe to it. When I had never asked to enter the site to begin with. Then the website went into a white never-ending refresh loop, where it gave a blank white screen and the browser was in constant-refreshing-but-never-opening-page mode. Just a blank white screen. I am an ignoramus when it comes to this sort of thing so just what is it? I know it’s incredible vague to post this without giving a URL or website names, but should I be afraid of something illegal? My antivirus (BitDefender) says everything’s fine with my computer. I saved some screenshots because it weirded me out. Do I report it to the authorities? To say what? "I opened up a tab and it opened up a new tab without my permission, which looked like a sketchy foreign website?: ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/2 "2017-09-22T03:57:43Z")
There’s nothing really for you to report. Run a full virus scan and download/run Malwarebytes if you haven’t already. Dating sites spawning pop-unders is the current routine these days. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/3 "2017-09-22T04:15:38Z")
Also, never click on anything on a tab that you didn’t ask for. Never. Not on anything, not a “close” button or anything. Close your browser using Task Manager (assuming you’re on a Windows PC). This may not completely prevent something nasty from getting on your computer, but I think it goes a long way (this is just my humble opinion). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/4 "2017-09-22T04:22:08Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > There’s nothing really for you to report. Run a full virus scan and download/run Malwarebytes if you haven’t already. Dating sites spawning pop-unders is the current routine these days. Right, I just got MalwareBytes… I’m not concerned about viruses though, it’s the legality issue. One of the foreign-seeming webpages featured a scantily clad woman posing sexually, who appeared to be around the age of 18. The “around” part is what concerns me. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/5 "2017-09-22T04:32:11Z")
Also during the white page-not-loading part, it seemed like the website was trying to “log me in” despite my previously having clicked “no”; who knows what is in there. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/6 "2017-09-22T15:48:12Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Also, never click on anything on a tab that you didn’t ask for. Never. Not on anything, not a “close” button or anything. Close your browser using Task Manager (assuming you’re on a Windows PC). This may not completely prevent something nasty from getting on your computer, but I think it goes a long way (this is just my humble opinion). Unfortunately, my browser simply reloads the old tabs from the last session. It wouldn’t work to use the Task Manager to close it since it would reopen the sketchy website. What can “close” do? (the x button in the upper right corner?) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/7 "2017-09-22T16:04:12Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Unfortunately, my browser simply reloads the old tabs from the last session. It wouldn’t work to use the Task Manager to close it since it would reopen the sketchy website. What can “close” do? (the x button in the upper right corner?) Maybe nothing, but I don’t trust anything on those pages. There are a lot of clever people who can do things behind the scenes to change the function of even innocuous close buttons. And I think you can change your browser settings so that it would go only to your home page when you close with task manager and then re-open. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/8 "2017-09-22T16:08:40Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Do I report it to the authorities? Who do you mean by “the authorities”? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/9 "2017-09-22T16:20:20Z")
1. There are no authorities 2. The only one responsible for what appears on your screen is you-Double if you don’t take preventative measures 3. Never assume that the “X” in the upper corner of the cite means “close” ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/10 "2017-09-22T16:31:08Z")
The only authorities that would have anything remotely like jurisdiction would be the FBI and honestly, what **Velocity** is describing doesn’t appear to me to have illegal content. Scantily clad doesn’t fall afoul of any kiddy porn laws I’m aware of. You might need to do a browser reset to defaults and clear the cache if it’s still going to whatever website but that’s all I would worry about. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/11 "2017-09-22T16:38:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > … I find that it already opened up a different page I didn’t ask it to. This happens to me every day. Maybe I’m just a sucker for sketchy sites. :o Apparently one common new trick (though perhaps unrelated to pop-under) is to hijack your computer to help mine for bitcoins. I keep Task Manager always open now and check for Chrome tabs hogging the CPU when things seem sluggish. > [@Velocity](#): > > Do I report it to the authorities? I don’t see a smiley-face. This was a joke, right? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/12 "2017-09-22T16:46:34Z")
One thing to do is to install a heavy-duty ad-blocker; I like Ublock Origin–available on the standard browsers: > **[uBlock Origin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBlock_Origin)** > > uBlock Origin (/ˈjuːblɒk/; "YOO-block" ) is a free and open-source browser extension for content filtering, including ad blocking. The extension is available for Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Pale Moon, as well as versions of Safari prior to 13. uBlock Origin has received praise from technology websites and is reported to be much less memory-intensive than other extensions with similar functionality. uBlock Origin's stated purpose is to give users the means to enforce uBlock Origin i... ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/13 "2017-09-22T18:52:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Right, I just got MalwareBytes… I’m not concerned about viruses though, it’s the legality issue. One of the foreign-seeming webpages featured a scantily clad woman posing sexually, who appeared to be around the age of 18. The “around” part is what concerns me. You’re about as likely to win the lottery without buying a ticket as you are to stumble across child porn on the surface internet. You have to go deep diving into places that the general public will never find, even by accident. Also, you’re apparently not aware that “looks” mean absolutely nothing in terms of actual age. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/14 "2017-09-23T07:30:14Z")
A plugin installed on my browser the other week, without my acknowledgement. If I hadn’t seen the unexpected extra button I wouldn’t even know it was there. I immediately uninstalled and did a scan, but it was fine. I don’t think it was a dodgy fake thing, just breaking all the upfront transparency rules. I still don’t know what prompted it to install. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/internet-browser-opens-sketchy-web-tabs-that-i-didnt-ask-it-to/796937/15 "2017-09-23T11:56:54Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > You’re about as likely to win the lottery without buying a ticket as you are to stumble across child porn on the surface internet. You have to go deep diving into places that the general public will never find, even by accident. > > Also, you’re apparently not aware that “looks” mean absolutely nothing in terms of actual age. I disagree. In a forum I’ve participated in, every so often a troll would create an account specifically to post a picture intended to shock. The post would be deleted and the troll banned, but eeeeeew.