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Swamipredicts annoying constant pop up

d_saum

d_saum

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2005
398
0
NC
So I was surfing around a few minutes ago and all of a sudden I got a pop up for a website www.swamipredicts.com. I closed it and sure enough, 10 seconds later it popped up again! It popped up every 10 seconds for a few minutes and was aggravating the hell out of me. I was using Safari and shut it down and used Firefox to find a solution. Here is what I found:

You can permanently block that site from loading by editing your Hosts file.

Launch Terminal (it's in Applications/Utilities). Check the hosts file that you have now by typing:
cat /etc/hosts
Which ought to return this:
##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
Backup the hosts file to a file named hosts.original by typing:
sudo cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.original
If it asks for your administrator password enter it. Copy the hosts file to the Desktop by typing:
cp /etc/hosts ~/Desktop/hosts.txt
Then double click the hosts.txt file on the desktop to open it in TextEdit. Add the following to the end of the file:
0.0.0.0 ip36.swamipredicts.com
Add similar lines for any other domains you might wish to block (e.g., ip35.swamipredicts.com if it isn't always ip36 etc).
File >Save.

Copy the edited file back into the /etc directory by typing this:
sudo cp ~/Desktop/hosts.txt /etc/hosts
(Note: There is no ".txt" extension on /etc/hosts)

Quit Terminal. Safari should no longer be able to load the page now. This is also very similar to how you do it in Windoze.
Click to expand...

But now the only difference was that I had another line in hosts file that read
"fe80::1%lo0 localhost"

so I commented that out with a pound sign and all has been well since.

Anyone else get hit with that? I'd hate to have to keep editing my hosts file everytime some friggin site hijacks safari!!!!

Thanks!
 
I must not be entering it right because this stupid swamipredicts won't stop popping up. This is what I have:

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting. Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
#fe80::1%lo0 localhost
0.0.0.0 ip36.swamipredicts.com
0.0.0.0 ip35.swamipredicts.com


I swear Safari's security is lousy. Can't even block this stupid pop-up.
 
I'm having the same problem...ugh. I just read about this on a 'yahoo answers' post and every person that posted seemed to believe it came from myspace, because when they shut their myspace window, the popups stopped.

I did, in fact, have a myspace page open when this all started and each time it's happened since I did as well, so there must be something to that. It also seems to be mac specific...my daughter has been on myspace off and on all day on her pc and had no problems.

I tried to block it via the method posted above, and it did work temporarily but later it will pop up again with a slightly different address, so i have to go through the whole process again to add the new one. :mad:

Do you all agree that it's related to myspace? I guess I'll just be staying away from there until there is a good fix for this...
 
Yep... its definitely coming from EFFING myspace. DAMMIT... I hate the effin crap!!!! I changed my password and it still was popping up. So I closed the myspace tab and it stopped.
 
I'm also a Mac user. Swami started popping up on me yesterday, and I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until about 20 minutes ago that it started doing it again, so I decided to Google the popup to see if it was any type of phishing. That's how I found this board. Lo and behold, my MySpace account was also open. I started to send a message to MySpace help, and my message didn't make it past the spam filter. I clicked back to my home page, and was given the message that my account had been phished and had to change my password. I changed it, and not even five minutes later, swami popped up again.
 
same here.
and, yeah, myspace happens to be opened up too.
i really don't care what swami can predict.

Could it be one of their 3rd party applications? Does anyone want to admit to having any of these? I have a couple...for sdk research purposes...honest.
 
maokh said:
same here.
and, yeah, myspace happens to be opened up too.
i really don't care what swami can predict.

Could it be one of their 3rd party applications? Does anyone want to admit to having any of these? I have a couple...for sdk research purposes...honest.
Click to expand...

I don't have any of their 3rd party apps installed and I'm still getting the stupid thing today...
 
info on origins of 'swami the'#ick'

I looked up the source and found this out - the server is a los angeles california based host

http://whois.domaintools.com/swamipredicts.com
naturally, they're by proxy so you could pay the $50 to contact them, but I doubt they'd respond back.
better yet, could contact the hosting company and complain - if they're upstanding, they should respond. . .
IP Address: 64.34.161.125

http://dns-tools.domaintools.com/?m=dns&q=64.34.161.125
I found that if i just log out, it stops rather than closing the tab - which works too... I noticed this popup a few days ago and only with myspace using safari - and not all the time either...i'll have to pay attention and see if it does it with firefox too.
seems we've got a mac hater out there - either that or just a really stupid marketer.
 
stats on swami

http://www.quantcast.com/swamipredicts.com

this one had some interesting demographics on it - like top 3 subdomains are ip24,ip37 and ip38

majority of visitors is hispanic females 12-17
4% of visitors are 'regulars' so parents better check their credit cards - your kids might be charging them up... reminds me of the old 976 phone number days....

http://www.alexa.com/search?q=swamipredicts.com
ranked in the 50-60K range - that's pretty high...
 
tycarter said:
http://www.quantcast.com/swamipredicts.com

this one had some interesting demographics on it - like top 3 subdomains are ip24,ip37 and ip38

majority of visitors is hispanic females 12-17
4% of visitors are 'regulars' so parents better check their credit cards - your kids might be charging them up... reminds me of the old 976 phone number days....

http://www.alexa.com/search?q=swamipredicts.com
ranked in the 50-60K range - that's pretty high...
Click to expand...

It's pretty goddamn sad is what it is.
 
myspace is retarded

I reported the issue to myspace and this morning i got this msg supposedly from myspace saying they want me to send them a salute - a pic of me holding a sign with myspace written on it to confirm my ID - this makes no sense whatsoever - they don't need me to prove myself for reporting a problem spammer that i'm sure they're fully aware of by now... i just deleted it . . .
here's what the beginning of their email read:
"
Hello,

In order to verify your identity, we need to receive a salute from the owner of the MySpace profile or from the party in question. A salute is a digital image or picture of you holding a handwritten sign that contains information about your MySpace account. "

just wondering has anyone else heard of such nonsense?
 
tycarter said:
I reported the issue to myspace and this morning i got this msg supposedly from myspace saying they want me to send them a salute - a pic of me holding a sign with myspace written on it to confirm my ID - this makes no sense whatsoever - they don't need me to prove myself for reporting a problem spammer that i'm sure they're fully aware of by now... i just deleted it . . .
here's what the beginning of their email read:
"
Hello,

In order to verify your identity, we need to receive a salute from the owner of the MySpace profile or from the party in question. A salute is a digital image or picture of you holding a handwritten sign that contains information about your MySpace account. "

just wondering has anyone else heard of such nonsense?
Click to expand...

Wow, that's weird. I wrote them about it last night and received this response this morning:

Hello,

We are aware there is a technical problem and are working to fix it quickly. Please be patient.


Thank you,
MySpace.com
 
tycarter said:
majority of visitors is hispanic females 12-17
4% of visitors are 'regulars' so parents better check their credit cards - your kids might be charging them up... reminds me of the old 976 phone number days....
Click to expand...

This site is ran by the National Telephone Advisory. The company has an interesting suite of products, however, i question the overall value of their services. Just 3-5 messages a week, at those prices. wow. swamipredicts must just be for high rollers and the super rich. Centennial Wireless is $5.99/week and AT&T is $19.99/mo.

For customer care, please email 37215@sms-helpdesk.com. By signing up for this service and by entering your personal PIN Code which will be sent to the cell phone number supplied by you on this website, you acknowledge that you are subscribing to our service. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending a text message with STOP, to short code 37215. Your phone must have text messaging capabilities. You must be the owner of this device and at least eighteen years old or have the permission of your parent or guardian. Centennial Wireless customers will be billed $5.99 per week. Boost customers will be billed $6.99 per month, Nextel, Sprint, Cellular One, Alltel, and Verizon Wireless customers will be billed $9.99 per month, and AT&T customers will be billed $19.99 per month. All charges will appear on your wireless bill. Alltel will receive five text alerts per week. Boost will recieve two text alerts per week. Nextel, Sprint, and Centennial Wireless will receive text alerts three times per week, and Cellular One and Verizon Wireless customers will receive text alerts once weekly. Standard/other text messaging rates apply. For Information text HELP to 37215 or call 1866-418-1890. Please click here to review all the Terms and Conditions.
Click to expand...


I reported the issue to myspace and this morning i got this msg supposedly from myspace saying they want me to send them a salute - a pic of me holding a sign with myspace written on it to confirm my ID - this makes no sense whatsoever - they don't need me to prove myself for reporting a problem spammer that i'm sure they're fully aware of by now... i just deleted it . . .
here's what the beginning of their email read:
Click to expand...

seems there are asking this if you claim someone stole your profile: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/10/confirm-your-identit.html

They might have misunderstood what you were saying...
 
I've heard of this happening as well. Worst case scenario you could just get a Facebook .... I mean its about 10 tens better than myspace anyways. :D
 
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