Prospecting Australia dramatic changes - WARNING

Those who also visit the Prospecting Australia website will notice that enormous, unannounced changes have taken place on 11-March 2022.

> The software on which PA runs has been completely changed.
> An anonymous moderator is presently in control of PA.
> Accessing your PA Account Preferences shows that the default timezone for PA is now set to Irkutsk - in RUSSIA!

Given the present political situation and until full and acceptable clarification is available, prudence would suggest that all persons visiting PA exercise extreme care. In particular, DO NOT authorise push notifications when this is prompted by pop-ups from the new website software.

yes it looks like its been hijacked to me

Re (yes it looks like its been hijacked to me)
There are pages and pages of info on the Web showing how to hack a website, surely Google should not allow this to be posted.

Has anyone got any further info on their situation? I went to their site, and it states. Oops we've hit a problem, etc. Could the hackers get all your info? passwords, banking details, etc. Or is it a secure site?

I think there is a new owner, who has changed the layout a bit, has more adds along with a owner moderator called "Gold", and a daily email update on yesterdays new threads.

and down the bottom of the screen the Message that they would like your permission to enable Push Notifications

I do not know what Push Notifications entails

That sounds a bit suss to me. I don't think I'll be going on to that site until it can be confirmed it's secure. Hiluxer mentioned Irkutsk, in Russia!!! That's a huge worry!

It was pretty funny how all the banned members (me and several others) were all of a sudden allowed to log on but after 2 days and one of the banned members exercising his right to criticise others again have all had their bans reinstated. No real loss for me as that forum has gone down hill in a big way.

Cheers

Doug

That drongo, and complete fraud Jaros banned me and then I was back, but only for two days. Now banned again. From what I saw in that short time it is a shambles with sod all real prospectors, and the same welded on rednecks. It should affiliate with the CWA.

PS It was for calling out rednecks that Emperor Jaros (No 1 redneck) banned me.

Reg Wilson wrote:That drongo, and complete fraud Jaros banned me and then I was back, but only for two days. Now banned again. From what I saw in that short time it is a shambles with sod all real prospectors, and the same welded on rednecks. It should affiliate with the CWA.

PS It was for calling out rednecks that Emperor Jaros (No 1 redneck) banned me.

It's their loss Reg. I think most of the real prospectors realise the forum is kaput.

Cheers

Doug

Seems now to be a very similar set up as "Finds Treasure Forums" in the States.

rockhunter62 wrote:It was pretty funny how all the banned members (me and several others) were all of a sudden allowed to log on but after 2 days  and one of the banned members exercising his right to criticise others again have all had their bans reinstated. No real loss for me as that forum has gone down hill in a big way.  

Cheers

Doug

I actually banned myself from that site. I just had enough of it for various reasons. I have had 3 emails in 3 days telling me about yesterday`s activity on PA , even though i have not been on there for nearly 3 years.

What really gets up my nose is that the ones who have the most say (Jaros and others) are the ones who do the least prospecting. Any one who questions these dictators get banned.

Fair go fellas. I can understand your frustrations but, could you please do me a favour by not bringing up what goes on there, nor of how that forum prefers to run their business on their website, up on here for debate. Its just not right.
It is only fair to say, that what goes on or takes place between members on other forums, should stay up on other forums & not be brought up on this forum (or any other forum for that matter) for the purpose of scrutiny or debate.
If any joining member, of any type forum, don't like what they see or how they're being treated, you've all heard the saying, "Exit, Stage Left"  

Management

I totally agree Kon and didn`t elaborate on what i said out of respect for this forum . I am surprised this topic was raised on here. What goes on in the neighbour`s house is their business.

All very nice Kon, but when some trumped up little dictator bans you for some piddling remark that may have hurt their fragile ego, makes a snide remark, or more, about you that you cannot reply to, the only recourse is to comment on another forum, hoping that it may get up their arrogant nose.

Okay, I have had my say, and I'll say no more, but I know that I am not alone in my opinion.

How many of you know who the owners of ANY forum are and what they're after?
Social media is a sewer. Enough said.

G'Day Butch

Because it is .au you can find out a lot more than any other domain, our .gov.au do not want to be 'racist' and stop foreigners from stealing your $$$s

butch wrote:How many of you know who the owners of ANY forum

Registrant Contact ID: AHQAOEZNDJL2AWO
Registrant Contact Name: Matthew Tatt
Registrant Contact Email: admin@prospectingaustralia.com.au
Tech Contact ID: A16468594954100
Tech Contact Name: KEITH UBBEN
Tech Contact Email: DOMAINS@GROUPBUILDER.COM
Name Server: TIA.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
Name Server: PIOTR.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
Registrant: MATICOM PTY. LTD.
Eligibility Type: Company
Eligibility ID: ABN 30149800000

So it looks like Matthew Tatt and Keith Urbben are interested parties in the domain

Ignore the 'Cloudflare' this is to stop network crashers

If you search for MATICOM PTY. LTD. you find some interesting details

They have got some really bad advise from an 'expert' never ever reg. a domain with a PL !!!

Their web site is using IPV4 addresses 104.21.25.210 172.67.134.174

These are both ASN name (ISP) Cloudflare, Inc.

Anything else you would like o know ?

Thanks for that AU_Toe. I may be advertising stuff to sell on here later on, thinking self preservation as we must.
I just noticed you've got a like on your own post. How did that happen? Have we been hacked?

Just tried it myself...I didn't realize you could like your own posts, ha ha.

I think that was Kon having a few jollies !!!

You got to watch these admins

Yes i know. Oh shite is he working today?

AU_Toe wrote:G'Day Butch

Because it is .au you can find out a lot more than any other domain, our .gov.au do not want to be 'racist' and stop foreigners from stealing your $$$s

butch wrote:How many of you know who the owners of ANY forum

Registrant Contact ID: AHQAOEZNDJL2AWO
Registrant Contact Name: Matthew Tatt
Registrant Contact Email: admin@prospectingaustralia.com.au
Tech Contact ID: A16468594954100
Tech Contact Name: KEITH UBBEN
Tech Contact Email: DOMAINS@GROUPBUILDER.COM
Name Server: TIA.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
Name Server: PIOTR.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
Registrant: MATICOM PTY. LTD.
Eligibility Type: Company
Eligibility ID: ABN 30149800000

So it looks like Matthew Tatt and Keith Urbben are interested parties in the domain

Ignore the 'Cloudflare' this is to stop network crashers

If you search for MATICOM PTY. LTD. you find some interesting details

They have got some really bad advise from an 'expert' never ever reg. a domain with a PL !!!

Their web site is using IPV4 addresses 104.21.25.210 172.67.134.174

These are both ASN name (ISP) Cloudflare, Inc.

Anything else you would like o know ?

That info looks to be the first owner - Matt (Nugget).
He repotedly sold it to Harri L from Denmark (I think it was) a few years ago.
Unless he's been running it under an offshore alias?

hiluxer wrote:Accessing your PA Account Preferences shows that the default timezone for PA is now set to Irkutsk - in RUSSIA

My timezone was set to the default for that forum software, which is American Samoa, the first on the list.

Push notifications in XenForo (the forum software) work in a similar way to push notifications on many websites - News, Facebook etc. If there is new activity in a particular thread, when you log on the system will 'push' that notification so you are alerted to it. It is nothing devious.

Cranky Emu wrote:

hiluxer wrote:Accessing your PA Account Preferences shows that the default timezone for PA is now set to Irkutsk - in RUSSIA

My timezone was set to the default for that forum software, which is American Samoa, the first on the list.

Push notifications in XenForo (the forum software) work in a similar way to push notifications on many websites - News, Facebook etc. If there is new activity in a particular thread, when you log on the system will 'push' that notification so you are alerted to it. It is nothing devious.

My Prospecting Australia timezone was previously set to Perth, WA. Under the new software, that timezone was automatically reset to Irkutsk, Russia. Other sandgropers had the same experience.

You have explained only the benign use of push notifications. Their more recent use as a vehicle for malware, makes them a dangerous weapon that website hackers can deploy to ensnare unwary site visitors.

yes I still think it has been hijacked or sold or stolen, it is just an adds festival over there and a mess, I guess that can happen when they don't pay the registration fees for there .com.au website, and it seems to have been taken over by something or someone, even the moderators have no idea what went on or how or why.

It does appear to have been well and truly bombed.
The ads can be switched off by going into your profiles and resetting them as well as resetting all of your profile data ans security settings.
The forum does seem to be working ok but I think maybe "It Is T"ime.

hiluxer wrote:My Prospecting Australia timezone was previously set to Perth, WA. Under the new software, that timezone was automatically reset to Irkutsk, Russia. Other sandgropers had the same experience.

You have explained only the benign use of push notifications. Their more recent use as a vehicle for malware, makes them a dangerous weapon that website hackers can deploy to ensnare unwary site visitors.

Righto, will leave it at that then

I still don`t know why this is being discussed on someone else`s forum.

It's being discussed on this forum because there is no other way of finding out how secure that site is, without going into it. There's also a few people on both sites, so it's a good way for them to get info about that site, and also relay info to them here.

I am not arguing with you on that ,but if someone comes into my shop and complains about all the things going pear shaped in my opposition`s shop , then i would not be happy they are doing it on my premises . I do understand where you are coming from because i know the culture and have been on the recieving end of bad stuff over there ,but i am thinking of respect for Kon`s forum and not talking about another forum , although kon is a bit quiet on this.
If you are not sure how secure the site is , leave it alone for awhile and go back when it may be fixed. Have a good day and don`t stress too much. Life is too short.

Thanks for thinking respectfully on behalf of this forum soldier of fortune, but since this thread is of interest to some, as long as it adheres to the rules governing this forum It can stay.
Have no doubt I go through just about everything that is put up on this forum in way of scrutiny & allow only to a point where myself or management thinks of it as being relevant, before stepping in for any necessary adjustments.
Yes It is I who own & pay for the running of this forum, but it is the members on here who make a forum what it is & if the information presented up on here is of good character & value, then that forum remains likewise, but if I allow poor quality discussion to stay up & continue to take place, then what does it say about the people who allow the running of such forums?

Kon