Uh Oh – SpaghettiO\’s
I was caught…caught doing inappropriate searching online…
You know the exact moment when you know you have gone online where you should not have and it takes your breath away.
It happened to me. It was the second last day of the year 2023.
I was in the middle of due dilligence and doing some blog hopping…making comments…
And I thought to myself – you know – it would be real nice that when I read a good blog post but I have no appropriate comments to make – wouldn\’t it be nice to be able to just give it a like?
Like on social media…
So my search began and I plugged it into my Google search bar: “WordPress Like Button Plugin“.
Search Results
One of the items that popped up was a site for “5 Best WordPress Like button Plugins – free and PRO“.
And I’m thinking to myself – They must know what they’re talking about as they have a list of 5 and for both free and PRO.
At this point I was still unaware that I was doing inappropriate searching online.
So I clicked the link and on the next page a popup got in my way and to get to the information I was looking for, it was asking me to, “Click Allow to Continue”.
I thought nothing of a most appropriate request and I bet you would have done the same – I clicked to Allow.
.
Then – Uh Oh – SpaghettiO’s!
It looked something like this image I found on Reddit.
A message appeared on my computer informing me of a virus infecting my computer. For an instant – it took my breath away!
I clicked to x off the message as I was sure I did not do anything to cause this and I missed the X and a new web page opened prompting me to install some, “McAfee Total Protection” software.
I immediately shut down my computer.
The Restart
I restarted my computer and another message popped up. I X’d it off and another message appeared. Then every few seconds another message popup would appear. It wouldn’t stop.
I knew at that point that I was doing inappropriate searching online.
Luckily the site name was visible – and I jotted it down before shutting down my computer again.
Then I went to my iPhone and plugged into the browser search, “how to remove Biserka.xyz”.
It was then that I learned of the malware that had infected my computer.
It was rather disheartening to learn that malware could also turn malicious – so I needed to do something fast!
The Fix
I won’t get into the actual fix – but I followed the instructions along with the last tip to install Malwarebytes – a free malware removal piece of software.
The point of this blog post being – I needed to change my habits of this inappropriate searching online.
I don’t care what software it is that I want to upgrade but it is now firm in my mind that I stick with that software’s appropiate channels – be it a user forum or their help and support channels.
Conclusion
In the case of my WordPress blog, it is firm in my mind now – that if I want to add any plugins, I keep my search activity directly in WordPress when I click to add new plugins.
And with this new resilience built up in me I will hopefully not be doing anymore inappropriate searching online…
…and certainly no more Uh Oh – SpaghettiO’s moments.
I never did do a further search for a Like button pluggin for my blog.
Plus I’ve learned that it is more important to leave relevant valuable comments on a blog as a simple like may be much too simplistic to be of use to the search engines.
And the take-away for you is that it’s best to keep the WordPress plugins to a minimum.
Many of those things can just bog down the loading of your blog – and who needs potential readers going elsewhere if your blog doesn’t load quickly!
Let me know in the comments if you’ve found my advice to be useful. And If you do have a WordPress blog – let me know which plugin you find to be most useful.
Much success to you – until my next post!
On a side note the term, Uh Oh – SpaghettiO’s comes from a TV Commercial back in my younger years.
That must have been really scary. But well done for fixing it and thank you for the warning!
I was looking for plugins for different social media icons but honestly didn’t problem solve it enough to find the answer but I shall now be careful! Thank you.
Oh no, you went on a journey! I hope you were able to fix your computer and you are back up and running with no issues. I love the idea of like buttons and emojis, but I agree that comments are better as they stimulate conversations and are a great way to get to know people! Thank yo for sharing this, and I will be sure to keep the lesson learned in mind, to only search in the WordPress plugin area for features!
great tip I wonder if McAfee is even legitimate at all anymore.
The only time I see their name anymore is in an email telling me they’ve automatically renewed my membership, and if I want to cancel I should call the customer service number provided. I called the first time I saw that but hung up before anyone answered, as I realized wait a second this is probably a scam.
My thoughts exactly Nathan. I see those ads all the time too. I believe the Windows operating system already does a good job of defending us. We just might need a little extra help when it comes to malware.
Good tip! I can see myself googling the best WordPress plugin…. In fact, I think I have. I must have been really lucky! In the future, I’ll only search within WordPress itself. Congratulations on getting the bad stuff cleared away. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much for the heads-up about that. It highlights just how easy it is for that to happen to when you go searching online. Also a very worthwhile point about considering the amount of plugins you have and how they can make a difference to how fast your blog loads. I am so new to WordPress so this is very useful to me. I hope your week ahead is great, happy and productive with no more Uh Oh – SpaghettiO’s 🤪
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Oh Robert,
It’s such a scary feeling when you realize something major is wrong. Well you have helped me on this one. I will also stay in wordpress and not venture out. It was a great read, thank you.
Looking forward to your next one. Lets hope we all learned from this post. 🙂
Thanks Sandy
It is great that you are able to fix the problem. With that said, installing those free anti-malware or anti-virus software can be problematic as well.
From time to time, pop up keeps appearing, asking me to upgrade to pro version. It is annoying especially when you are trying to get some work done.
Robert,
Being in I.T. for around 25+ years I’ve seen this happen to many people and it is scary and frustrating. Just like internet marketing has its scams, so does I.T. software. I was glad you were able to recover it. A lot of times it requires a complete wipe of the computer system. Count your blessing. The big question is are you backing your system up in case this happens and you have to restore it from scratch.
Have an awesome day and happy careful searching.
CJ
A great warning to us all. I tend to look at the reviews of all plug-ins and when they were last updated. Still not fool proof but minimises the risk. Great post Bob, thank you – Martin
I am so glad that you shared this! I wouldn’t have know this! Best of all, you were able to fix the issue yourself. I for sure wouldn’t have been able to do that. Taking us through your steps may help aliveate a moment of panic.
All I can share is that I have had my scarying issues with my blog and luckily, I had a great mentor who was able to help me fix the problem.
I tend to stick to the basic on my website so I don’t encounter any issues, yet it may not be the best way.
Thank you!
You must have felt sick know that your computer had been infected.
It has happened to me too and I am very mindful of what I click on these days.
I think the experience is quite common.
Neal
Robert, that is a great lesson for everyone. Thanks very much. Sometimes when you just know what you’re looking for, it’s very easy to just go and type it in Google and obviously the scammers know that people who search for certain things. But your advice is right, I think just stick to WordPress and the plug-ins that they provide as they have probably been vetted and checked before being allowed to be on their list. Thanks again see you soon. Atif
This is so insulting. I had this kind of McAfee “look alike” popup one day that I just throw away by closing the browser. They want you believe your computer is infected but it isn’t. If you click on it it’s too late and you’re being infected for real. When you say it is a good thing to keep your plugin in WordPress as low as possible, I believe you. One day, I was unable to access my old website in WordPress admin because some plugin were upgraded or not supported. I had then to launch WordPress in a safe mode with all plugin Off to be able to solve the problem. These things are frustrating because they make us lose a precious time.
Take care.
Martin
Wow! Thank you so much for this information, Bob! I am sorry to hear that you went through that incident, but paying it forward to help all of us to be aware is very, very helpful! WP is relatively new for me. I’ll keep this lesson in mind!
All the best!
Milissa Neirotti
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I thought you were going to say a porn site appeared. In any case, I was spammed on a windows computer and had to take it to Best Buy to clean it up. That’s always an alternative for anyone reading this.
Thanks very much for noticing my headline “hook”. And that is a very good suggestion. On occasion I have used Best Buy’s tech services.