Could fake unsubscribe sites get blocked under the Phishing blocks? #3461

dftf-stu · 2024-11-19T19:02:58Z

dftf-stu
Nov 19, 2024

In uBlock Origin (the Manifest v2 version, for Firefox), I have the "Phishing URL Blocklist" enabled.

I'm surprised that as part of this filter, those fake "unsubscribe" websites, that exist purely to harvest
working e-mail addresses to then send more spam e-mails to that person, don't get blocked.

Click to see example screenshots of such sites:

Maybe this is something which could be considered?

I struggle to see any reason why not to block them... 🤔

Thanks

gorhill · 2024-11-19T19:40:45Z

gorhill
Nov 19, 2024
Maintainer

I struggle to see any reason why not to block them.

Workload. We are volunteers using our free time to contribute here. We can't sanitize the whole internet. If these pages are you clicking on a link in a spam email, then the best course of action is to report these to spam email filters.

0 replies

dftf-stu · 2024-11-19T19:45:16Z

dftf-stu
Nov 19, 2024
Author

Hi @gorhill: I have tried for years reporting the sites to both Google's Safe Browsing and Microsoft's Defender Smartscreen as phishing, but still they never get blocked.

I've reported this also to the AdGuard DNS team, who appear to be looking to block the example domains.

Be great if uBO could also, but please close this discussion if you feel it would be out-of-scope.

1 reply

gorhill Nov 19, 2024
Maintainer

Closing. Whoever is free to become a contributor, the current contributors are burdened enough there is no need to pile on. If you feel strongly about this, become a contributor.

stephenhawk8054 · 2024-11-19T20:56:18Z

stephenhawk8054
Nov 19, 2024
Collaborator

At least give us the list of the URLs. We are not wizards to acknowledge every single issue on the internet, and we can't type every single URL from just the screenshots either. Everything needs the first person to report properly. If no one is bother to report properly, there's nothing to block.

14 replies

dftf-stu Nov 20, 2024
Author

@stephenhawk8054: okay, thanks for adding these. A few points though:

[1] Within uBlockOrigin itself, which filter-list is "badware.txt" the internal-name for?
I would assume under Built In > uBlock Filters it would be the "Badware risks" one, yes?
As such, these sites should start to be blocked by-default? (Or does a new filter from filterlists.com have to be added first?)

[2] Would the blocks only occur in the Manifest v2 version of the extension, or the v3 one also?
(I'm aware the v3 one uses fewer rule-sets behind-the-scenes.)

[3] Looking at what you linked to, I can see the domains being blocked, but at the bottom some more-generic rules that would attempt to find such sites in future. Are you sure these won't block actual, genuine unsubscribe pages -- like from newsletters or online shops?

Thanks