Adware in new installer

[reedii69]

I downloaded the installed from Sourceforge, at this link http://sourceforge.net/projects/vlc/fil ... works-us-2 well when it didn't start I clicked the "link" that says "download" and it gave me a VLCsetup.exe that was FULL of adware. So, beware of that link. Fortunately, my AV was able to catch it before it did any real harm and blocked all of it before it could install.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

You've totally misdownloaded... the link about gives a vlc-1.1.6-win32.exe...
not a VLCsetup.exe

[reedii69]

I realize that, BUT the link it says to download from on that page, not the upper link the huge "Download" graphic takes you to a site that wants you to D/L the VLCsetp.exe. Which contains adware. I'm posting this since the auto-download wasn't loading for me nor the mirror site. If you click through on the "VLC Media Player 1.1.5" button it takes you to *removed* you click the next button that appears that says it's going to D/L the VLC player it takes you to *removed* which in turn wants you to D/L a program called VLCsetup which in in turn wants to install a bunch of adware...

So, just a heads up that someone is trying very hard to use your program to stealth in some nasty things.

[Sébastien Escudier]

these sites are scams, and they are often in google ads... never download from them, and not much we can do.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I'll do something about those adds.

[Ludrax]

I downloaded the installed from Sourceforge

from which country?

[VLC_help]

I think he clicked ad on Sourceforge that leaded to wrong file.

[flinkamaddie]

While searching for a new media player I found a page to download the VLC player. The link downloaded a file named VLCsetup.exe. Before running it I scanned it and it was reported to be adware. Here is the link: http://www.vlcmediaplayer.org/download.html I found this site while trying to determine if the VLC player was intended to be distrubuted with this junk. Apparently not.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

While searching for a new media player I found a page to download the VLC player. The link downloaded a file named VLCsetup.exe. Before running it I scanned it and it was reported to be adware. Here is the link: http://www.vlcmediaplayer.org/download.html I found this site while trying to determine if the VLC player was intended to be distrubuted with this junk. Apparently not.

Those people are bad scammers and we are trying to pull them down.

[Ludrax]

I think he clicked ad on Sourceforge that leaded to wrong file.

still no one knows is that ad geo based?

[jheanley]

Not that my forums are very popular yet, but i've stuck up a topic anyway to let people know which site they must go to to get the correct version. May help someone if it pops up in a google search one day. These people are scumbags, I hope you guys are able to put them out of action soon, good luck. I've been using VLC Media Player for years and usually find that out of Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic, QuickTime and countless others, VLC Media Player will 99.99% of the time actually play the video with sound while the others do not. I promise to donate to you guys soon since you have been offering a superior package in so many ways.

Edit: Donated, thank-you for providing such a great player

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

videolan.org is the ONLY site where to download from.

[jheanley]

Thats the address I put in a topic in my offtopic section.

[infomaven2]

Hello, I'm brand new to the forums and to VLC....glad I found you.

This fake VLC website (http://www.vlcmediaplayer.org) is still alive and well in 2012. I think you should highlight this on your support forums and anywhere else you promote your project.

Unfortunately I did not discover anything was wrong until AFTER installing the offered program. Title of the download was *vlc-2.0.1-win32.exe*. Has anyone had to deal with the aftermath of removing this and repairing any damage? If so, I would definitely like to talk to you.

Here's how I found out something was wrong:
1. Everything looked normal until I ran VLC for the first time. It notified me there was a "newer version available" and prompted me to download it.

2. When I did, the download succeeded, but VLC crashed immediately afterward. When I tried to "send a bug report to developers", this failed as well (error message referencing "failed ftp" ).

3. Looking for answers, I returned to the site where I had downloaded the file and clicked the link to "VLC BLOG" (http://www.vlcmediaplayer.org/blog ). My browser (Google Chrome) warned me this was a "reported attack site". That was when the alarm bells went off.