[Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness

[Guerri Stevens]

In the past couple of days, I have tried to use Google to search for
something. I access Google with www.google.com, and I am using Firefox.
When Google is through loading and displays the box for the search, I
type in whatever I want to search for. Sometimes, but not always, Google
will display a list of suggestions. I click the button to start the
search (I think it says "Google search"). And nothing happens.

If instead I click "I feel lucky" or whatever it is, I get one of those
messages with the distorted letters, and am informed that there is
unusual activity on my network and I have to prove I am me. But why
would that type of Google request even care about the "me"? I mean, I
don't log in, so whatever "me" Google cares about must be whatever
information is being sent by my software. If I click the link to "why is
this happening" I get something about violation of terms of service.

At any rate, it is very odd and I wondered if anyone can shed any light
on this.

I do know that within the past few days Google added a new feature to
Gmail that identifies Emails that you might be especially interested in
reading based on what you've read in the past. My preference would
always be that when Google, or anyone else for that matter, adds a new
feature, the default should be "off", but that's another issue. It can
be turned off and I did, but I just wondered whether there is a
connection of some kind, i.e. one software change has somehow caused a
glitch elsewhere.

Of course, one wonders why Google is keeping track of what emails I read
or don't read and that leads to me questioning whether I should stop
using Gmail.

--
Guerri

[—Keith Hale—]

That is very odd. I don't have much light to shed on most of that, but you
might try clearing your Firefox "Browser Cache". I use an older version,
but the steps should be:

Tools \ Options \ [Privacy tab] \ "Private Data" section at the bottom \
["Clear Now..."] button ... then select what you do and don't want to clear..
Then i would close FF and relaunch. That fixes most glitches, and you are
describing quite a glitch!

About "keeping track" of e-mails... *they don't*. They seem to, just the
way it seems odd that i get ads for window companies after i send\receive
emails about glass blowing (which i study). The software sees "glass" and
'customises' your ads for a while.

I use the new function (have done for at least 6 months), - but i have an
absurd amount of email to sort through. I get emails from causes i want to
help but can't... so they often come in and don't get read. So they aren't
marked with the "important" icon.

So, *the software* keeps track of what you read - to help you sort through
new emails. If your volume of messages is light, it may not seem
worthwhile. I like it.

I 1,000% agree that new, optional functions should start switched off! The
"labs" functions do, you really have to work to turn them on, but this one
was trotted out switched on!

((I don't work for Google in any capacity (man would i like to, though!) -
but i have tried absolutely ALL the free-mail accounts and Gmail outshines
every one of them with a huge margin! Their spam-handling alone is a
"deal-Maker". I'm kind of a Gmail expert user (hundreds of thousands of
emails sent\received ... and i've worked with their support people on a few
matters)... and an unabashed "cheerleader" for Gmail. It isn't perfect, but
if it vanished tomorrow i would feel like a victim of a severe stroke! I
keep "my brain" stored in lovely *searchable* Gmail.))

I hope you get your Google search glitch sorted! ((I'd be lost without it.
Bing is a distant second place for search quality in my quasi-humble
opinion. Yahoo does me no good at all.))

—Keith—

> Of course, one wonders why Google is keeping track of what emails I read
or
> don't read and that leads to me questioning whether I should stop using
> Gmail.

[Guerri Stevens]

Well, yes, it is the Google *software* that keeps track of what Emails I
read or don't read, but it is really the same thing. Why is that
information tracked at all? And it must be stored somehow in order for
the software to then say "hey, this one is important to you".

I knew about the ads. And there are also the sponsored links and you can
tinker with them if you wish. As I understand it, the sponsor pays for
each user who clicks on a sponsored link, and sets a maximum. So if you
are annoyed enough and have friends or a group of like-minded people who
are equally annoyed, you can bring up the search, get the sponsored link
and click on it and repeat until you get tired of it. If enough people
do this, you'll notice that the links disappear.

As far as problem with my searches: I had already thought of the saved
data, but it seems to make no difference whether I clear it out or not.
And I have set some items to "delete when session ends" so they should
be cleared when I close Firefox.

The times I've had the problem have all been in early evening. So this
may be a coincidence if whatever is happening is due to a larger than
usual use of the service. This morning it was fine. I'll try to remember
to do a search this evening and see what happens.

Guerri

—Keith Hale— wrote:
> That is very odd. I don't have much light to shed on most of that, but
> you might try clearing your Firefox "Browser Cache". I use an older
> version, but the steps should be:...
>
> About "keeping track" of e-mails... /they don't/. They seem to, just
> the way it seems odd that i get ads for window companies after i
> send\receive emails about glass blowing (which i study). The software
> sees "glass" and 'customises' your ads for a while.

[Toni Savage]

If I were you I would run my virus software checker by hand.

I had a screen pop up asking me to re-enter my Yahoo password, and I stupidly
did it, andÂ*my account got hacked.Â* Aand what it did was send a zillion
virus-spam emails to everyone in my contact list!

It's possible that that "Verification screen" was a fake andÂ*if you entered a
password, they got it.Â*


If so, change your password quickly.
Â*-- Toni Savage



----- Original Message ----
From: Guerri Stevens <guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>
To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 8:49:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness

Well, yes, it is the Google *software* that keeps track of what Emails I read or
don't read, but it is really the same thing. Why is that information tracked at
all? And it must be stored somehow in order for the software to then say "hey,
this one is important to you".

I knew about the ads. And there are also the sponsored links and you can tinker
with them if you wish. As I understand it, the sponsor pays for each user who
clicks on a sponsored link, and sets a maximum. So if you are annoyed enough and
have friends or a group of like-minded people who are equally annoyed, you can
bring up the search, get the sponsored link and click on it and repeat until you
get tired of it. If enough people do this, you'll notice that the links
disappear.

As far as problem with my searches: IÂ* had already thought of the saved data,
but it seems to make no difference whether I clear it out or not. And I have set
some items to "delete when session ends" so they should be cleared when I close
Firefox.

The times I've had the problem have all been in early evening. So this may be a
coincidence if whatever is happening is due to a larger than usual use of the
service. This morning it was fine. I'll try to rememberÂ* to do a search this
evening and see what happens.

Guerri

—Keith Hale— wrote:
> That is very odd.Â* I don't have much light to shed on most of that, but you
>might try clearing your Firefox "Browser Cache".Â* I use an older version, but
>the steps should be:...
>
> About "keeping track" of e-mails... /they don't/.Â* They seem to, just the way
>it seems odd that i get ads for window companies after i send\receive emails
>about glass blowing (which i study).Â* The software sees "glass" and 'customises'
>your ads for a while.Â*
>

[Guerri Stevens]

There is no password involved. I was just trying to do a search, no
logging in. And it doesn't happen all the time. It seems to be happening
consistently in the evening though. So maybe I should do some more
extensive research on it. And I will run my virus checker as you suggest.

Guerri

Toni Savage wrote:
> If I were you I would run my virus software checker by hand.
>
> I had a screen pop up asking me to re-enter my Yahoo password, and I stupidly
> did it, and my account got hacked. Aand what it did was send a zillion
> virus-spam emails to everyone in my contact list!
>
> It's possible that that "Verification screen" was a fake and if you entered a
> password, they got it.
>
>
> If so, change your password quickly.
> -- Toni Savage
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Guerri Stevens <guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>
> To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
> Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 8:49:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness
>
> Well, yes, it is the Google *software* that keeps track of what Emails I read or
> don't read, but it is really the same thing. Why is that information tracked at
> all? And it must be stored somehow in order for the software to then say "hey,
> this one is important to you".
>
> I knew about the ads. And there are also the sponsored links and you can tinker
> with them if you wish. As I understand it, the sponsor pays for each user who
> clicks on a sponsored link, and sets a maximum. So if you are annoyed enough and
> have friends or a group of like-minded people who are equally annoyed, you can
> bring up the search, get the sponsored link and click on it and repeat until you
> get tired of it. If enough people do this, you'll notice that the links
> disappear.
>
> As far as problem with my searches: I had already thought of the saved data,
> but it seems to make no difference whether I clear it out or not. And I have set
> some items to "delete when session ends" so they should be cleared when I close
> Firefox.
>
> The times I've had the problem have all been in early evening. So this may be a
> coincidence if whatever is happening is due to a larger than usual use of the
> service. This morning it was fine. I'll try to remember to do a search this
> evening and see what happens.
>
> Guerri
>
> —Keith Hale— wrote:
>> That is very odd. I don't have much light to shed on most of that, but you
>> might try clearing your Firefox "Browser Cache". I use an older version, but
>> the steps should be:...
>>
>> About "keeping track" of e-mails... /they don't/. They seem to, just the way
>> it seems odd that i get ads for window companies after i send\receive emails
>> about glass blowing (which i study). The software sees "glass" and 'customises'
>> your ads for a while.
>>
>

[John Barrs]

Another fascinating aspect of Google email

As I reported the otherday here, in the name part of a gmail address google
takes no notice of case or dots - so Johnny.BARRS@gmail is exactly the same
email as johnnybarrs -- so far so good

but I have discovered absolute proof that despite all protestations by
google it is possible for two people to have the same gmail address.

In two of my persona I have been receiving billing information from my ISP
-- but the information is for two different accounts, mine and someone
else's account. We have checked with my ISP --- both myself and the
a.n.other person receive and answer direct requests from my ISP to respond
to emails - both of us have been registered for those gmail addresses for
more than 4 years (For info, the address is of the form
<firstname><lastname> and he has a dot between and I don't and the problem
persona does not use my given lastname of Barrs)

I suspect that it occurred when they allowed the change from @googlemail.comto @
gmail.com === they casually allowed the change without doing a proper check
- or even worse, some people never formally made the change, just started
using "gmail.com" and that was in the days when they didn't admit that the
"dots" didn't matter.

Now::::: find out a way of actually talking to gmail to make that point - or
tell them anything at all - if anyone has any ideas about howto then please
tell me.

John

On 25 May 2011 12:38, Guerri Stevens <guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com> wrote:

> There is no password involved. I was just trying to do a search, no logging
> in. And it doesn't happen all the time. It seems to be happening
> consistently in the evening though. So maybe I should do some more extensive
> research on it. And I will run my virus checker as you suggest.
>
> Guerri
>
>
> Toni Savage wrote:
>
>> If I were you I would run my virus software checker by hand.
>>
>> I had a screen pop up asking me to re-enter my Yahoo password, and I
>> stupidly did it, and my account got hacked. Aand what it did was send a
>> zillion virus-spam emails to everyone in my contact list!
>>
>> It's possible that that "Verification screen" was a fake and if you
>> entered a password, they got it.
>>
>> If so, change your password quickly.
>> -- Toni Savage
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Guerri Stevens <guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>
>> To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
>> Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 8:49:01 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness
>>
>> Well, yes, it is the Google *software* that keeps track of what Emails I
>> read or don't read, but it is really the same thing. Why is that information
>> tracked at all? And it must be stored somehow in order for the software to
>> then say "hey, this one is important to you".
>>
>> I knew about the ads. And there are also the sponsored links and you can
>> tinker with them if you wish. As I understand it, the sponsor pays for each
>> user who clicks on a sponsored link, and sets a maximum. So if you are
>> annoyed enough and have friends or a group of like-minded people who are
>> equally annoyed, you can bring up the search, get the sponsored link and
>> click on it and repeat until you get tired of it. If enough people do this,
>> you'll notice that the links disappear.
>>
>> As far as problem with my searches: I had already thought of the saved
>> data, but it seems to make no difference whether I clear it out or not. And
>> I have set some items to "delete when session ends" so they should be
>> cleared when I close Firefox.
>>
>> The times I've had the problem have all been in early evening. So this may
>> be a coincidence if whatever is happening is due to a larger than usual use
>> of the service. This morning it was fine. I'll try to remember to do a
>> search this evening and see what happens.
>>
>> Guerri
>>
>> —Keith Hale— wrote:
>>
>>> That is very odd. I don't have much light to shed on most of that, but
>>> you might try clearing your Firefox "Browser Cache". I use an older
>>> version, but the steps should be:...
>>>
>>> About "keeping track" of e-mails... /they don't/. They seem to, just the
>>> way it seems odd that i get ads for window companies after i send\receive
>>> emails about glass blowing (which i study). The software sees "glass" and
>>> 'customises' your ads for a while.
>>>
>>
>>
>

[—Keith Hale—]

Well, i was just the other day talking to my brother, who has a gmail
doppelgänger too! Or maybe "doTTelgänger". I suspected it might be a
phishing attack ... but his situation sounded a lot like yours.

I think i'll try to get thought.storms@gmail, just in case. My brother went
back to his ancient aol address over it.


On 25 May 2011 09:52, John Barrs <johnnybarrs (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

> Another fascinating aspect of Google email
>
>

[Mike]

... I get one of those messages with the distorted letters, and am informed that there is unusual activity on my network and I have to prove I am me. But why would that type of Google request even care about the "me"? I mean, I don't log in, so whatever "me" Google cares about must be whatever information is being sent by my software. If I click the link to "why is this happening" I get something about violation of terms of service.

http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=86640

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Web+Search/thread?tid=7c4023fd645acbbc&hl=en

http://searchengineland.com/what-triggers-google-captcha-requests-when-searching-11656

Note that "your network" doesn't necessarily mean the Internet connection to your house. It might, or it could refer to your ISP.

[Guerri Stevens]

I have not found a way to "talk" to Google. There are some forums or
blogs or whatever they call them. There was a lot of talk, mostly
negative, about Google's decision to not show "sign out" specifically at
the top of the screen. Now you have to use a drop-down list for it.
Except, that is, for the occasions when it DOES appear at the top.

In my own situation which is simply the Google search, not Email, I
tried IE the other night. My version of IE is whatever shipped with my
machine and has never been updated. When I use the URL www.google.com,
the page I get is NOT the same as what I get with Firefox. There is a
pitch for making Google my home page at the top and Firefox doesn't
display that.

I think there may be a new version of Firefox, and perhaps I'll get it.
That may also solve the problems I have with the local library's web
site. At least aside from my general dislike of the library's new software.

Guerri

John Barrs wrote:
> Another fascinating aspect of Google email
>
> As I reported the otherday here, in the name part of a gmail address
> google takes no notice of case or dots - so Johnny.BARRS@gmail is
> exactly the same email as johnnybarrs -- so far so good
>
> but I have discovered absolute proof that despite all protestations by
> google it is possible for two people to have the same gmail address.
>
> In two of my persona I have been receiving billing information from my
> ISP -- but the information is for two different accounts, mine and
> someone else's account. We have checked with my ISP --- both myself and
> the a.n.other person receive and answer direct requests from my ISP to
> respond to emails - both of us have been registered for those gmail
> addresses for more than 4 years (For info, the address is of the form
> <firstname><lastname> and he has a dot between and I don't and the
> problem persona does not use my given lastname of Barrs)
>
> I suspect that it occurred when they allowed the change from
> @googlemail.com <http://googlemail.com> to @gmail.com <http://gmail.com>
> === they casually allowed the change without doing a proper check - or
> even worse, some people never formally made the change, just started
> using "gmail.com <http://gmail.com>" and that was in the days when they
> didn't admit that the "dots" didn't matter.
>
> Now::::: find out a way of actually talking to gmail to make that point
> - or tell them anything at all - if anyone has any ideas about howto
> then please tell me.
>
> John
>
> On 25 May 2011 12:38, Guerri Stevens <guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com
> <mailto:guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>> wrote:
>
> There is no password involved. I was just trying to do a search, no
> logging in. And it doesn't happen all the time. It seems to be
> happening consistently in the evening though. So maybe I should do
> some more extensive research on it. And I will run my virus checker
> as you suggest.
>
> Guerri
>
>
> Toni Savage wrote:
>
> If I were you I would run my virus software checker by hand.
>
> I had a screen pop up asking me to re-enter my Yahoo password,
> and I stupidly did it, and my account got hacked. Aand what it
> did was send a zillion virus-spam emails to everyone in my
> contact list!
>
> It's possible that that "Verification screen" was a fake and if
> you entered a password, they got it.
>
> If so, change your password quickly.
> -- Toni Savage
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Guerri Stevens <guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com <mailto:guerri (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>>
> To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com <mailto:dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com>
> Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 8:49:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness
>
> Well, yes, it is the Google *software* that keeps track of what
> Emails I read or don't read, but it is really the same thing.
> Why is that information tracked at all? And it must be stored
> somehow in order for the software to then say "hey, this one is
> important to you".
>
> I knew about the ads. And there are also the sponsored links and
> you can tinker with them if you wish. As I understand it, the
> sponsor pays for each user who clicks on a sponsored link, and
> sets a maximum. So if you are annoyed enough and have friends or
> a group of like-minded people who are equally annoyed, you can
> bring up the search, get the sponsored link and click on it and
> repeat until you get tired of it. If enough people do this,
> you'll notice that the links disappear.
>
> As far as problem with my searches: I had already thought of
> the saved data, but it seems to make no difference whether I
> clear it out or not. And I have set some items to "delete when
> session ends" so they should be cleared when I close Firefox.
>
> The times I've had the problem have all been in early evening.
> So this may be a coincidence if whatever is happening is due to
> a larger than usual use of the service. This morning it was
> fine. I'll try to remember to do a search this evening and see
> what happens.
>
> Guerri
>
> —Keith Hale— wrote:
>
> That is very odd. I don't have much light to shed on most
> of that, but you might try clearing your Firefox "Browser
> Cache". I use an older version, but the steps should be:...
>
> About "keeping track" of e-mails... /they don't/. They seem
> to, just the way it seems odd that i get ads for window
> companies after i send\receive emails about glass blowing
> (which i study). The software sees "glass" and 'customises'
> your ads for a while.
>
>
>
>

[Guerri Stevens]

Thanks for the references. I took a look at them, but they didn't shed
any real light on the problem. However, you did point out that "my
network" may not be our household.

It is possible that some other customer of our ISP is doing something.
As far as I can tell from my own pattern of usage, Google works OK in
the morning, but not in the evening. I don't often use the Internet in
the afternoon. It would make sense to me that perhaps someone who has a
"day" job also has some kind of home business which he or she operates
during the evening and which for some reason sends automated requests of
some kind through or to Google.

I suppose the only way to get it to stop would be to ask our provider to
look into it. Probably not worth the effort right now. I can just remind
myself to use Yahoo instead for anything after 7 p.m.

I got the feeling from the message from a Google employee that they are
not too worried about looking into it.

Guerri

Mike wrote:
> ...
> Note that "your network" doesn't necessarily mean the Internet
> connection to your house. It might, or it could refer to your ISP.
>
>

[Mike]

Just to be on the safe side, make sure that no one can use your Internet connection. For example, if you have wireless capability, is it protected against outsiders?

[Guerri Stevens]

My husband, aka the IT Department, assures me that outsiders cannot use
our connection.

What's interesting is that within the past few days, the Google
weirdness has disappeared! Either the offender, if there was one, has
stopped doing whatever it was, or perhaps Google put a stop to it. Or
possibly Google itself had some sort of problem that's been fixed.

Guerri

Mike wrote:
> Just to be on the safe side, make sure that no one can use your Internet
> connection. For example, if you have wireless capability, is it
> protected against outsiders?
>
>

[Toni Savage]

Oh that just SOOOOOOOO sounds like a virus/spoofer!!!* Exactly what happened to
me with Yahoo.* It looks like a sign in screen but is not.

ALWAYS check the top of the screen for the actual URL you are at, and make
**SURE** it*starts with "https" and*NOT just "http"
*-- Toni Savage



----- Original Message ----
From: Mike <mike (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>
To: Dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
Sent: Thu, May 26, 2011 4:02:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness


Guerri Stevens;67472 Wrote:
> ... I get one of those messages with the distorted letters, and am
> informed that there is unusual activity on my network and I have to
> prove I am me. But why would that type of Google request even care about
> the "me"? I mean, I don't log in, so whatever "me" Google cares about
> must be whatever information is being sent by my software. If I click
> the link to "why is this happening" I get something about violation of
> terms of service.

[Christopher Carson]

I would imagine that's how hackers have cracked a number of Gmail accounts
recently. It definitely sounds like the bad guys.

CC


-----Original Message-----
From: Toni Savage
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 1:48 PM
To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness

Oh that just SOOOOOOOO sounds like a virus/spoofer!!! Exactly what happened
to
me with Yahoo. It looks like a sign in screen but is not.

ALWAYS check the top of the screen for the actual URL you are at, and make
**SURE** it starts with "https" and NOT just "http"
-- Toni Savage



----- Original Message ----
From: Mike <mike (AT) tapcis (DOT) com>
To: Dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
Sent: Thu, May 26, 2011 4:02:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness


Guerri Stevens;67472 Wrote:
> ... I get one of those messages with the distorted letters, and am
> informed that there is unusual activity on my network and I have to
> prove I am me. But why would that type of Google request even care about
> the "me"? I mean, I don't log in, so whatever "me" Google cares about
> must be whatever information is being sent by my software. If I click
> the link to "why is this happening" I get something about violation of
> terms of service.

[Guerri Stevens]

I wasn't using Gmail. I was simply doing a search, unconnected to any
Gmail account.

I did wonder, though, whether the hacking operation was somehow causing
the problem. Everything has been back to normal recently, and my theory
is that the hackers were causing the problem (perhaps overloading the
system in some way) and Google has now done something about it.

Guerri

Christopher Carson wrote:
> I would imagine that's how hackers have cracked a number of Gmail
> accounts recently. It definitely sounds like the bad guys.
>
> CC
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Toni Savage
> Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 1:48 PM
> To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
> Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness
>
> Oh that just SOOOOOOOO sounds like a virus/spoofer!!! Exactly what
> happened to
> me with Yahoo. It looks like a sign in screen but is not.
>
> ALWAYS check the top of the screen for the actual URL you are at, and make
> **SURE** it starts with "https" and NOT just "http"
> -- Toni Savage

[MICHAEL HARRINGTON]

Guerri,

Did you click on a link in the search results? It sounds like you may have
landed on a website designed to steal personal information by imitating a
Google program.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com [mailto:dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com] On Behalf
Of Guerri Stevens
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2011 2:59 AM
To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness

I wasn't using Gmail. I was simply doing a search, unconnected to any
Gmail account.

I did wonder, though, whether the hacking operation was somehow causing
the problem. Everything has been back to normal recently, and my theory
is that the hackers were causing the problem (perhaps overloading the
system in some way) and Google has now done something about it.

Guerri

Christopher Carson wrote:
> I would imagine that's how hackers have cracked a number of Gmail
> accounts recently. It definitely sounds like the bad guys.
>
> CC
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Toni Savage
> Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 1:48 PM
> To: dixonary (AT) googlegroups (DOT) com
> Subject: Re: [Dixonary] OT: Google Weirdness
>
> Oh that just SOOOOOOOO sounds like a virus/spoofer!!! Exactly what
> happened to
> me with Yahoo. It looks like a sign in screen but is not.
>
> ALWAYS check the top of the screen for the actual URL you are at, and make
> **SURE** it starts with "https" and NOT just "http"
> -- Toni Savage

[Guerri Stevens]

No, because nothing happened when I tried to search. No results were
ever displayed.

Hmm, thinking back, one of the options when searching is "I feel lucky".
If you click that, Google will take you to whatever turns up first in
the list of results. I think I tried that, and then got the request for
the entry of the odd letters. I don't think there was ever a request to
log in, though.

Guerri

MICHAEL HARRINGTON wrote:
> Guerri,
>
> Did you click on a link in the search results? It sounds like you may have
> landed on a website designed to steal personal information by imitating a
> Google program.
>
> Mike