tag:dreamwidth.org,2011-04-05:715450verushka70verushka70verushka702025-09-22T04:40:50Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2011-04-05:715450:125332(updated) - was: WARNING! AO3 PHISHING SITE PSA (Fannish Fifty #38)2025-09-04T01:59:29Z2025-09-22T04:40:50Zpublic2<p><b>ETA #2: I reported this to AO3 Technical Support because I thought they should know. They eventually replied back to me that THIS IS a legitimate AO3 site that points to the actual AO3; it exists for those in whose countries the actual ao3.org domain is blocked. It won't steal your AO3 credentials because it <i>is</i> AO3. Whew! I am so happy to be wrong about everything below!</b></p>
<p><strike>Just saw this <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/mekare-art/793676889217728512">warning about a fake AO3 phishing site</a> coming up in searches - the original PSA about this was posted on Tumblr (reblogged from Tumblr OP <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=doubly_magic'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://www.dreamwidth.org/profile?user=doubly_magic'><b>doubly_magic</b></a></span> by <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://mekare.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://mekare.dreamwidth.org/'><b>mekare</b></a></span>):</strike></p>
<p><br /><img src="https://verushka70.dreamwidth.org/file/1721549.png" /><br /><img src="https://verushka70.dreamwidth.org/file/1721719.png" /></p>
<p><strike>The domain is "https://I🖤ao3.ws" and they even use the AO3 logo.
DO NOT CLICK ON THIS SITE. DO NOT BE FOOLED.</strike></p>
<p><strike>As the original post says, that fake site exists solely to steal your AO3 login credentials.</strike></p>
<p><strike>In some browsers, as in the Duckduckgo browser the OP shows in the original post, phishing links can be blocked by right-clicking (RIGHT click! don't just click on it!) on the site itself and selecting "Block this site from results". You can also choose to report it (which I did).</strike></p>
<p><strike>I'm going to report this to AO3, too. I know they can't stop another site from existing - but they <i>can</i> warn AO3 users (and maybe take legal action? IDK).</strike></p>
<p><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://verushka70.dreamwidth.org/125332.html#cutid1">click here if you're paranoid like me and find the timing suspicious</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div></p>
<p><strike>Please signal boost this, if you can!</strike></p>
<p><strike><b>ETA:</b> So far, it's only coming up as a result in Duckduckgo searches, not Google and not Brave browser's own search. Those may have more anti-phishing code built in to their search engines. But just... be careful.</strike></p>
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