Mobile Pop-ups on MBFC: You have not won a gift card and you do not have a virus

*Update: It seems the mobile Firefox Browser does not have this problem. It might be worth a try while we sort it out for all  the other mobile browsers.

It has been brought to our attention that over the last few days people have been experiencing a pop-up ad on mobile that covers the screen and is difficult to navigate away from. This problem seems to occur most on IPhone/Pad using the Safari browser, but we also have seen this on Android Chrome and other browsers.

The ad you are seeing may look like something like this, but could be a different variation:

Before I explain the problem, I want to apologize for this inconvenience and also to ensure you that your phone is fine and we are not dumping Malware on you. This problem is occurring from a fraudulent advertiser. This issue has occurred throughout many different ad server companies including Ad Sense, Automattic WordAds, Sovrn and many other reputable companies. It seems that once they close off the rogue ad they find another way to slip one in. This has been a problem for many major media sources and websites. Several have written articles about it.

https://product.voxmedia.com/2018/1/22/16902862/why-ads-redirect-to-giftcards-and-what-were-doing-to-secure-them

http://www.tampabay.com/news/Note-to-readers-About-those-annoying-popups-on-your-phones_165731770

I really just want assure you that you do not have a virus. Through trial and error I have located the ad serving company that is causing our problems. When I disabled their ads the problem went away. I have been in contact with them and they are trying to block the offending advertiser. They have asked me to keep our ads up so they can run tests and complete their work. I don’t know how long this will take to complete, but hopefully sooner rather than later.

Remember, this ad is fraudulent and you are not going to win anything. Don’t click it. We will let you know when this issue is resolved.

Again, sorry for the inconvenience and any doubts this may cause. We are on it.

Dave Van Zandt
Editor

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