Google history shows fake search I did not make. Does yours?

Last night I hit the back key on Firefox and was surprised to find a google search that I absolutely did not make. I am the only one who uses my computer and the fake search is between two real searches made within minutes. I did not leave my computer at the time when this search shows up. I can imagine how something like this can get a person into big trouble. How did it get there? The fake search that shows in my history is not damaging to me, but what if you found fake searches for things that can get you into trouble? What if it were a fake search for an illegal activity or porn, or dating sites, etc. and your spouse found it in your history file? How many people would get into big trouble (or have) if a damaging fake search was found on their pc?


I did do a search for this and found others with the same problem, but it looks like it's mostly from mobile android devices, but not all.

Fyi--the fake search in question is the " Tips for getting pregnant".
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Get better anti virus software.

reply to post by virraszto


I think this could be a number of things. You could have malicious files that made the search or maybe someone hijacked your computer/browser remotely. I mean there are a LOT of explanations, no need to blame google on this (for once).

Use Google Chrome.

Also, Microsoft Security Essentials is free directly from Microsoft. It's caught 2 or 3 problems from general internet browsing.

www.microsoft.com...

Maybe you should consider turning Google Instant off.

EDIT: I'm saying that because when typing out "tips for", the first thing to pop up is "tips for getting pregnant"

could be malware

have you asked your partner if she is trying to get pregnant? (or if he is trying to get you pregnant)...

I would suggest getting something like ad aware and spybot (both free) and running to see if you got some ad crapola nested and trying to make your computer pregnant with ads or whatnot...but ya, also asking anyone else with access to the computer if they ran the searches.

Careful how you phrase it though...they may deny simply to not get caught on the content itself.

Originally posted by satron
Maybe you should consider turning Google Instant off.

EDIT: I'm saying that because when typing out "tips for", the first thing to pop up is "tips for getting pregnant"

edit on 2-6-2011 by satron because: (no reason given)

same...

I get pregnant then driving test etc etc

I have had experiences like this on my computer, however, a logical explanation usually there to support it. Seeing as it is similar to your other searches, i.e. "tips for ... p," I think the predictive (Google Instant) aspect has something to do with it. Seems too innocuous to be malware, IMHO, with the example you provided.

If is started to plant phrases using terms "how to make" and "bomb" and "Washington D.C." then, you might have something to worry about.

I don't think you should switch to Chrome as I really don't trust Google either. I would recommend staying with FF or switching to Chromium, which is the open source version of Chrome - but, I am not a computer wizard by any stretch of the imagination.

*** Never hurts to plug linux at a time like this (less probability for malware and very little need for loading all that preventive software).

Download and run SuperAntiSpyware and/or Malwarebytes, they are free programs and clear out 99% of the spyware and malware that mess with your browser and registry. I use them and they are small and don't clutter your system with heavy protection like many brand name Anti-virus protections.

Originally posted by virraszto
I can imagine how something like this can get a person into big trouble.

According to the current political paradigm "If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear" you should not get into any trouble if you did nothing wrong, should you? You are supposed to feel safer than ever before with all the monitoring of your internet traffic!


Maybe ask one of the total surveillance adherers how anything could ever get an innocent person into trouble.
[This post contains sarcasm]

I dont use google esp' chrome ! I use scroogle !
and recommend it to everyone !

www.scroogle.org...


Peace

I haven't checked it but I did have a weird situation with google that really can't be avoided. I searched my username, and one of the results was a porn site. It turns out that I had written a eulogy on one of my now closed websites, and someone on the porn site used the search function to find out about eulogies. Because of the keyword, my site came up in the search results, making it look to the average user that I had visited this porn site. This probably happens quite a lot, and I really don't see a way to fix it....
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Yeah .. even scarier when you have a look in your temp internet and cookies folder ...

If someone gets into trouble from a partner for some history thing on a pc ...
Then it's likely their relationship already had problems, the root of which lie far deeper than a link on a PC.


You're right to be wary ... I am very wary of things on my PC, that seem to show up without my knowledge ..
I know exactly what processes should be running and what shouldnt .. and what should be in my startup locations ... ... So its easy for me now to catch things that AV may miss, at a glance ...

Always good practice

I'm running all kinds of scans to see if I can find anything. On the google help forum, there is talk about a problem with passwords. I don't see how that could be my problem. I'm the only one who uses my PC. I'm not sure why it's happening, but I thought people should know it can and does happen.