Using Host File to stop visiting Scam & other undesirables

[dxxwood]

Hi,

I know I'm a newbie and may have missed something. But if you created a list of the scam sites in the hosts file order. Then people could download (or add) the lists so that they can't access the sites by accident. - It just presents a blank page (because it thinks that the page is on YOUR PC (that's what the 127.0.0.1 means)..

For those who don't know, your hosts file (no suffix / extension) can be edited using notepad. It's normally stored in "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts". This is true for virtually all versions of windows, although it might be that the Windows folder is called Winnt or another name.

All you need to do is to add "127.0.0.1 " (you need the trailing space) in front of the site you want to "ban". Ie if the site is http://www.thisisascam.com you would enter 127.0.0.1 http://www.thisisascam.com

Similarly if the website is http://thisisascam.com then you'd enter
127.0.0.1 thisisascam.com

This is also useful as a anti-porn etc device if you've got kids, etc, etc. Though savvy kids might know about it (most won't).

There are ready made hosts files as well as lists of "unwelcome" sites you can download / add to your hosts file. Just Google it.

I hope that it helps

Cheers

[peg]

This is a good suggestion for AD sites that are annoying, but it's generally not as effective with scam sites. Particularly the scam sites we are looking for. The reason is that the file would be HUGE. Currently our database is over 10,000 and I don't see it slowing down. Also the sites are generally up for only a short time. Lets not forget that at some point (sometimes less than a year) those sites might turn to a legitimate site (typically after it's been purchased by someone else legitimately).

There is also another concern. Some of the scams actually USE the HOSTS file to perpetrate their fraud. See http://www.escrow-fraud.com/index.php?page=hosts for more details on that.