Google Hijacked

[Veazer]

.. I've already contacted phone support, but of course, they don't acknowledge there is any problem at all....

I was just looking at the thai thread about this, Maxnet is denying it and telling customers that it caused by a virus on their machine.

Haha, that make it even more hilarious. Which company would ever admit to be infected by virus? These people are just so stupid they could not make up a better excuse.

Sorry, that was poorly worded. I mean Maxnet is telling users that the user's machine is infected and that's why they see the ads.

[hellavagi]

I don't think Google will act on this either, but it doesn't hurt to try. But I can't click on the link to report it to google since it just redirects me back and I don't know how to use the proxy mentioned. dam_n i hate this kind of shit service.

[Hobgoblin]

I've tried calling 1103 again to "annoy" them, and it appears they're not answering phones. Is anyone able to get through to that number?

Press '9' for English and they continue in Thai....

Nope.... I can't even get to that point. I'm thinking they could be rejecting requests from my number because I insinuated this could be their fault? It would figure - dealing with Thais is like dealing with 8 year-old children.

[cmsally]

I can confirm it is done by Maxnet. I have 2 services - True and Maxnet. It is only happening when connected by Maxnet but not when connecting by True. True is normal.

[RichieH]

For anybody in serious need ofusing google.com such as myself...... here is your solution

http://www.pagewash.com

I use it sometimes to ensure dubious websites don't infect my computer. It's a virtual proxy in other words.

Hope it helps.

[DrTuner]

I don't think Google will act on this either, but it doesn't hurt to try. But I can't click on the link to report it to google since it just redirects me back and I don't know how to use the proxy mentioned. dam_n i hate this kind of shit service.

Unfortunately using a ssh tunneling proxy requires access to a server running an ssh daemon. Mine is a linux-box in Germany. It also proves that it is indeed Maxnet that is hijacking the HTTP requests based on the destination IP. I'm using OpenDNS and have maxnet Premier (or was ist Premium, anyway, not the Indy).

This is very bad behaviour, if they start hijacking https calls as well, the result will be the certificate error that was mentioned before. If it's google now, how long will it take before they hijack f.ex Kasikorn's IP ?

[ikebukuro5]

This is illegal and MAXNET should get sued for this. I'm now looking for a Google number or international internet fraud hotline, will call them now if I can get the number.

Anybody has any contact numbers for some international internet fraud association?

I would like to inform the international authorities about this idiotic fraudulent move from Maxnet.

Cheers!

[RichieH]

An add-blocker won't fix it because it's at the ISP level. Like when you don't pay your bill for 3 months they redirect you tot a payment reminder page. Or when you try to logon to a random wireless network which is actually a paid for service.... they redirect you to a login/pay page.

It's a blatant redirect by tt&t which is is so rude it's funny!

[Johnxxx]

An add-blocker won't fix it because it's at the ISP level. Like when you don't pay your bill for 3 months they redirect you tot a payment reminder page. Or when you try to logon to a random wireless network which is actually a paid for service.... they redirect you to a login/pay page.

It's a blatant redirect by tt&t which is is so rude it's funny!

Again - a bad idea of Maxnet. But I just got it when I disabled my ad-blockers at Firefox.

[livinthailandos]

Well I managed to get through maxnet bull crap but not by a SSH though, I did it through using which thaivisa forbids mentioning.

[RichieH]

www.pagewash.com, a non-tt&t proxy or Expensive Google Lawyers is the only way around this I'm afraid!

TIT folks!

[grrr]

What a joke...

EDIT: I bet you can circumvent this by using OpenDNS.

I use OpenDNS with MaxNet and it makes no difference. MaxNet has definitely entered new territory with this one, and if they actually get away with this (which I assume they will because they can), the (advertising) possibilities are limitless.

[Jimjim]

That's bad news, I had always read in this forum that maxnet was the best provider, especially for speed. This is crazy stuff for them to do, an actual supposedly reputable business engaging in what's know as "blackhat" marketing in the internet marketing world. Very, very bad. Serious breach of professionalism and professional service.

[cmsally]

An ad blocker won't help as it is not just a pop up. In my case I have tried to block everything but have many google pages including finance and support unusable as I am redirected back to google.co.th. No popups but the redirections make much of Google unusable

[klikster]

For anybody in serious need ofusing google.com such as myself...... here is your solution

http://www.pagewash.com

I use it sometimes to ensure dubious websites don't infect my computer. It's a virtual proxy in other words.

Hope it helps.

That may not work(?) for anything beyond search.

"WARNING: SSL not supported, entering non-anonymous area!

This proxy as installed does not support SSL, i.e. URLs that start with "https://".'>https://". To support SSL, the proxy administrator needs to install the Net::SSLeay Perl module, and then this proxy will automatically support SSL (the CGIProxy site has more info). In the meantime, any browsing to an "https://" URL will be directly from your browser, and no longer anonymous.

Follow the link below to exit your anonymous browsing session, and continue to the URL non-anonymously.

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogi...amp;hl=en"

[SuzieQ]

I got through to MaxNet on 1103. Obviously, they have been answering the same question over and over, because the first lady sighed and passed me on. The second one, however, was still very polite and helpful (as customer service is supposed to be) and explained that they are working on the issue. Of course, she could not tell when it would be solved. So, it did not help much, except for that I now know it is not a virus on my end.

Anyway, I got into Google's other services, by clicking on 'My Account' from that Thai Google page. Of course, it only works if you are permanently logged in, like I am on my home computer.... From My Account, I can get to Analytics, Adsense, Adwords and Gmail.

Edited May 29, 2009 by SuzieQ

[klikster]

Looks like I will have to switch over to CDMA if this doesn't get resolved.

FYI, "webmaster tools" is affected, but the dashboard for sitemaps is https: and it doesn't redirct

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard

[Crushdepth]

I recommend everyone fires off an few angry emails to [email protected] and [email protected].

That won't work. Use the following recipe to get the required attention from a Thai ISP:

INGREDIENTS:

1 x 50 cal machine gun

Lots of bullets

APC (or a pickup if budget is an issue)

Squad of Shining Path guerillas and rocket launchers optional.

METHOD:

Drive by building. Shoot it up with machine gun and optional guerillas and rocket launchers until it is a flaming pile of rubble. THEN send an email to 'icare' promising to repeat on a daily basis until someone answers and addresses the problem. This may take a week or too given the propensity for help desk staff a) turning up to work late, not turning up at all due to some obscure ceremony the 'need' to attend, c) staff 'going to the bank' but actually going shopping, or d) sleeping through said assault at their desks and expecting the cleaner to sort it out for them.

@Jimjim: Is that Heron Island in your avatar?

[Robbogeordie]

Same here in Chiang Mai - We called the helpline and they told us they will need 2 days to fix this !

To fix a bit of javascript that has been deliberately put on for the weekend...nice little earner for someone.

I don't even think this will backfire on them.

[VancouverBC]

I called Google and emailed them also...

Hopefully they'll get slapped with a very heavy lawsuit!

[klikster]

Same here in Chiang Mai - We called the helpline and they told us they will need 2 days to fix this !

To fix a bit of javascript that has been deliberately put on for the weekend...nice little earner for someone.

I don't even think this will backfire on them.

Really? Maxnet's reputation was pretty good. Do you thing people see Maxnet as a reliable ISP now?

[OlRedEyes]

Same here in Chiang Mai - We called the helpline and they told us they will need 2 days to fix this !

To fix a bit of javascript that has been deliberately put on for the weekend...nice little earner for someone.

I don't even think this will backfire on them.

Really? Maxnet's reputation was pretty good. Do you thing people see Maxnet as a reliable ISP now?

No, they probably see them as they are - a Thai ISP.

Those that think that it will help to contact Google about the IP hijack for popup ads may want to inform Microsoft as well as the same amateurish hijack is done with Hotmail.

Thailand IT/computer/information services can be a world leader, if this wuz the 18th century. I sometimes wonder whether more than just snot has been scraped from the average Thai head through the years. DON"T DIG IN YOUR NOSE, IT CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR IQ.

[clokwise]

The horrible thing is the upper management of Maxnet must have known about this but were probably completely oblivious to the implications of such a poorly thought out campaign.

I'm guessing on Monday the big fat olde boss of Maxnet will waddle into work at noon and will retrieve a fax sent via the vacuum tube next to his big teak desk. On that fax will be a handwritten note from one of his personal assistants telling him that his brother-in-law called and thanks him kindly for allowing him to advertise his new 'Moviebuffet' homepage on the Googles and on the Hotmails.

He will press the intercom on the corner of his desk to summon another of his assistants to come take a letter. After, he will have his driver take her to the post office where she will purchase a stamp and post the letter to the brother-in-law. The letter will inform the brother-in-law that the french '82 Chardonnay was indeed marvelous and could they please pop round a little bit later next time on Saturday because tee time will probably be rain delayed just like last week.

Meanwhile, back at the office, the big fat olde boss glances at his pocket watch then realizes it's already 1pm and it's time for the meeting with the Minister of Communications to discuss a multi-million Baht project to utilize the now disused telegraph wires as a replacement for a city-wide ISDN network.

Oblivious.

Edited May 29, 2009 by clokwise

[RedCardinal]

Although you could say they're bang-up-to-date:

www.bing.com

Details sent to Bangkok Post and The Nation as this could well be newsworthy.

Also sent all details to some Google folk who I'm sure will be interested that a Thai ISP knocked out google.com and a number of services like reader, support groups, and just about anything else that runs off a subfolder on google.com.

With a bit of luck Google might be actually able to bring some pressure to bear. I'd never underestimate them.

[bluesofa]

Is just me or have the ever noxious Maxnet just hijacked google.com?

They now insert a pop up advert and redirect to google.co.th

In case it matters I am using Maxnet Indy from Pattaya

Well after complaining to tt&t on 1103 at 21:00, the third person I spoke to called Amida knew exactly what was happening with the hi-jacking, but "Don't worry, it will all be sorted out in 30 minutes for sure" - Ha!

So obviously after 2 more hours it isn't, and just trying to give Amida a hard time for lying to me. Got cut off 4 times while waiting to speak to this liar (sorry, but true) and got fed up with wasting my money being on hold and continually asked the same questions about my phone number for my tt&t connection. (confused them as I live in a condo and have a wi-fi connection to tt&t, so I don't know any phone number.)

I just wonder if customers will move away from tt&t due to this stupid stunt, or will it just be accepted as TIT?

[kudroz]

I just wonder if customers will move away from tt&t due to this stupid stunt, or will it just be accepted as TIT?

I am switching from Maxnet to CAT for my home line. Calling CAT on monday to see if they service my area.

[mnbcm]

Also gets get redirected to http://moviebuffet.maxnet.co.th/google.html

The worst part is that I'm trying to reach finance.google.com

I get the popup and then redirected to www.google.co.th

I have the exact same issue!

[dafool]

They Work like this, I try call them also, after talk with first person and they transfer to another person and then wait for long time and then line were drop!!!

I did call them about block smtp last week (I using indy, so i am Thai and no more isp for because i am living in Lampang province) i wait for while until i talk with third person and wait for for fifth person. that he claim he is technical guy. he said no problem and ask me for my username/password for he can test at their office, And again no problem he claim no problem with smtp.gmail.com:25 or mail.live.com:25 and next day i call again, they said sent problem to ISP.... until now more than 7 days, and still same!!!

I glad someone contact google and tell this story to google. i hope that will be better soon...

[Tywais]

Perhaps everyone should send an e-mail to Google giving them a link to this topic.

Their (Maxnet) little promotional scheme could well backfire with losses in customers to other ISPs. A fair penalty by Google, remove any search references to Maxnet.

[mnbcm]

Just called 1103. Kind of felt bad for the guy. We had a friendly conversation but he sounded very flustered and said "Google will be fixed tomorrow, maybe 1 or 2 hours" whatever that means.