Why are so many users unable to access Talk of the Villages?

[graciegirl]

Dear owners of TOTV.


There are now several threads with discussions of people unable to access this forum. On Facebook, many fellow villagers are posting they cannot access TOTV.


Are there any answers available at this time? Any possible reasons why this may be happening?

[JoMar]

I had the problem a couple days ago, was re-routed to another site.....I assumed a virus so ran full scan with Trend-Micro and the problem went away.

[BIGPOPPA]

Somebody they kicked out da plug? No Maybe?

[Greg Nelson]

mine quit for a couple days too

[OBXNana]

I can't get on using Firefox, but have no problems with Internet Explorer. It may depend on what search engine is being used to log onto the site. Or, it just be my somewhat outdated version of Firefox that is the problem.

[NYGUY]

Since the only common thread is TOTV, I believe they owe their subscribers an explanation as well as assurances that they have the technical wherewithal to prevent future occurrences at least to the level of best practices within the industry. If they are running a low grade, patched together message board system, that is far from state of the art, they should let us know that as well.

[Clawdio45]

I have also had repeated issues with logging on to TOTV, involving a redirect to an unknown website with a URL starting "ww2." This has occurred on multiple platforms, including an iPad and an android phone, and on more than one browser. Deleting all cookies and history made the problem disappear on my usual Firefox browser... but only temporarily. The problem does not repeat on ANY other website.

[dalecrenshaw]

I can't get on using Firefox, but have no problems with Internet Explorer. It may depend on what search engine is being used to log onto the site. Or, it just be my somewhat outdated version of Firefox that is the problem.

I have tried both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Both take me to ww2.talkofthevillages.com
and then "GoodMayor". This has been happening to me for 2 weeks. Tried clearing
History, cookies/cache, doing a security scan, eliminating my link to TOTV in my bookmarks or favorites....nothing worked.

[dalecrenshaw]

I have also had repeated issues with logging on to TOTV, involving a redirect to an unknown website with a URL starting "ww2." This has occurred on multiple platforms, including an iPad and an android phone, and on more than one browser. Deleting all cookies and history made the problem disappear on my usual Firefox browser... but only temporarily. The problem does not repeat on ANY other website.

I agree, it doesn't happen on any other website...other than talkofthevillages

[dalecrenshaw]

They seemed to have fixed the problem for the time being...since I can now get on TOTV, but now have a new problem that I can't get on to classified????

[Chatbrat]

This virus totally locked up safari on my Mac, had to install malwarebyte, and remove everything related to Talk of the Villages

[looneycat]

This virus totally locked up safari on my Mac, had to install malwarebyte, and remove everything related to Talk of the Villages

it had no virus attributes whatever. the hosting fee must not have been paid and the site was suspended until brought up to date, but the virus hysteria is quite amusing.
perhaps it was something else (doubtful) or maybe the admin is embarrassed to say......

[Greg Nelson]

tsk tsk...working now..bill paid

[Taltarzac725]

tsk tsk...working now..bill paid

Does not sound like a logical explanation but... at least it is working again.

[looneycat]

Does not sound like a logical explanation but... at least it is working again.

it is the most logical explanation, phishing is the least logical especially when you are not shifted to a site full of malware.

[Opmoochler]

it is the most logical explanation, phishing is the least logical especially when you are not shifted to a site full of malware.

I know next to nothing about technology issues, but am curious as to why, if it was a domain issue, it only affected some people's access.

[Bosoxfan]

I had a service tech from Century Link here for a couple hours today.(Tuesday)He was on the phone most of the time trying to figure out the problem. .It definitely is a problem with their Internet being spoofed, phished, or hacked. When he was leaving her felt confident that they would figure it out and apparently they have.

__________________




Seems like a hacker is targeting our demographic because this is the only site they see to have had this problem. Although I'm not sure but I heard other ISP'S have had this same problem recently. Please if this happens to you in the future don't panic and start paying for virus removal because although it feels like you have a virus and the messages you are receiving make you think you have a virus YOU DON'T. The problem is with your Internet provider. Just call them and let them know the problems you are having.This will save you aggravation & money

[2BNTV]

When trying to get on TOTV a message saying that I needed to download Adobe Flash Player appeared. I don't download anything unless it comes from a rweliable vendor. There was another message saying that malwarebytes blocked an unwanted intruder to TOTV.

Ran MS Essentials and got no virus detection. Ran malwarebytes and nothing was detected in the scan.

Magically, several days later without doing anything, I am able to get back on.

HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMM.............

[Taltarzac725]

I had a service tech from Century Link here for a couple hours today.(Tuesday)He was on the phone most of the time trying to figure out the problem. .It definitely is a problem with their Internet being spoofed, phished, or hacked. When he was leaving her felt confident that they would figure it out and apparently they have.

__________________




Seems like a hacker is targeting our demographic because this is the only site they see to have had this problem. Although I'm not sure but I heard other ISP'S have had this same problem recently. Please if this happens to you in the future don't panic and start paying for virus removal because although it feels like you have a virus and the messages you are receiving make you think you have a virus YOU DON'T. The problem is with your Internet provider. Just call them and let them know the problems you are having.This will save you aggravation & money

Yours was the post I was thinking about.

[looneycat]

Yours was the post I was thinking about.

I have yet to see centurylink techs fix any kind of problem. in general their knowledge is laughable. their ability to detect and determine issues with service is almost nonexistent and their determinations when made are often way off base or dead wrong. to base anything on what their techs say is to be disappointed every time. they have 'fixed' issues with my service 5 times, 5 times the issue still existed after their fix. when my agreement is gone so will they be.

also why would a hacker be interested in hacking a forum? could he be that incredibly bored to hack a site with nothing to steal?

[Bosoxfan]

All I can say is once he left the problem was fixed within a couple hours. Yes you can get a virus if you click on anything you were redirected to but if you don't and you're having problems get a hold of your internet provider. Mine happens to be Century Link and yes I'm very satisfied!!!!!!!!!

[rexxfan]

tsk tsk...working now..bill paid

For what its worth, I visit once or twice a day and have not had any issues accessing the site. I suppose it might have happened in between visits, though.
--
Bob C

[Fraugoofy]

Dear owners of TOTV.


There are now several threads with discussions of people unable to access this forum. On Facebook, many fellow villagers are posting they cannot access TOTV.


Are there any answers available at this time? Any possible reasons why this may be happening?
I have had issues in the last 6-7 days accessing TOTV using Tapatalk on my phone. TOTV is the only Tapatalk that was unusable. Sure hope they get the problem fixed soon!

Sent from my SM-N910R4 using Tapatalk

[kcrazorbackfan]

When trying to get on TOTV a message saying that I needed to download Adobe Flash Player appeared. I don't download anything unless it comes from a rweliable vendor. There was another message saying that malwarebytes blocked an unwanted intruder to TOTV.

Ran MS Essentials and got no virus detection. Ran malwarebytes and nothing was detected in the scan.

Magically, several days later without doing anything, I am able to get back on.

HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMM.............

Same exact messages here; even had a page come up saying my laptop had been infected and that I needed to call HP service at a 1-844 number; nope, WOULD NOT do that. Like you, everything magically started working again.

[llaran]

use Chrome!!!

[looneycat]

use Chrome!!!

i do use a chromebook and had the same issue as the problem was the site was down. i had no virus hysteria because the problem was obvious. some here had centurylink techs making up causes like they usually do, as a group they are the most ineffectual service people i have ever dealt with. they know installation and beyond that seem mystified by everything else.

[Taltarzac725]

All I can say is once he left the problem was fixed within a couple hours. Yes you can get a virus if you click on anything you were redirected to but if you don't and you're having problems get a hold of your internet provider. Mine happens to be Century Link and yes I'm very satisfied!!!!!!!!!

I have found if you call them or talk to them online they eventually will get to someone who knows what she is doing.

Phishers and spoofers target sites that get a lot of volume like TOTV. I must have someone pretending to be a Facebook employee who is telling me I have won the Facebook lottery just about once a week. These could be the same crooks who are trying to take data, spread viruses, or just have fun messing up other people's lives on TOTV.

The Internet Service Providers is something I suspect they always try to hack into no matter where in the world these are.

[DeanFL]

I must shout>

WHY THE STONEWALLING - ADMINS OF TOTV??? AFRAID OF REQUESTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THOSE REQUIRING VIRUS CLEANING OF THEIR EQUIP?
APPARENTLY THIS ISSUE IS A WEEK+ OLD NOW AND APPARENTLY RESOLVED.
WHY NOT ISSUE A THREAD TO ALL HERE EXPLAINING WHAT HAPPENED. WAS IT TOTV AND/OR ISPs? END THE SPECULATION AND UNKNOWNS. THAT'S ALL I ASK. INFORMATION IS POWER - STONEWALLING SIMPLY AGGRAVATES FOLKS.

BTW I use a Chromebook direct to Centurylink ISP and was affected by the outage. Also had same on our Windows 8 PC wifi to Centurylink. No actual virus hits as we have good protection. Back on ToTV a couple days ago, no issues since.

[TOTV Team]

We will be sending out a notice to all users regarding this issue.

1) TOTV was not hacked
2) No personal information, passwords, or any account were compromised
3) There was no malware on TOTV
4) The issue only impacted random users not all users so some never experienced the issue

The issue was the company that hosted the website had an issue with the DNS IP for the server and any site that was on that server was having the same issues. They worked and have resolved but based on your internet provider ie: Century Link it will take a varying amount of time for the users who were impacted to have the access restored.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Best Regards,

TOTV Team