Does it mean anything?

LegacyUser

Last week I was staying at my boyfriends, while he was at work I was surfing the net and noticed when I entered s into the search toolbar a link to a website invloving swinging popped up. I know that in itself means nothing but when I clicked on it the words 'account suspended' came up on the screen, he only bought his laptop around 9 months ago and we're together almost 3 years so if he was on the website it would've been when we are together I guess.
I confronted him and showed him what I saw and he said he never heard of the website and he has no idea why it's there I left it and said I believed him but I feel like im being naive. I'm hoping it was a glitch or something and I'm being paranoid but wanted to get other peoples perspective.

Lorna123

I don't think this means anything. It was just his computer suggesting sights that began with the word "s". It wasn't his history you were looking at. This search engines always suggest sites whether they have been viewed before by the operator or not.

LegacyUser

sunflower27 wrote: »

Ah, you poor thing.

Sounds very odd to me that it would pop up like that.

Does he spend a lot of time away from home? What was your gut feeling when you approached him? What was his reaction?

Does anyone else have access to the laptop?

He doesn't but we don't live too close to each other either and he goes out a lot when Im not there. Intially I felt he was on the site I know websites pop up like that but Ive never seen any of them say account suspended seems dodgy but I don't have any real proof and he denied it.
He seemed shocked at first to see it and a bit sheepish he even started googling why it would pop up so im not sure.
No he is the only one who uses it

LegacyUser

Lorna123 wrote: »

I don't think this means anything. It was just his computer suggesting sights that began with the word "s". It wasn't his history you were looking at. This search engines always suggest sites whether they have been viewed before by the operator or not.

I know but it seems strange ive never seen any websites that lead to something saying account suspended

Richy06

The search popped up when you typed 's' into the search engine because it was one of the most searched terms under that particular email account. For example, if it was Google and he was signed into his Gmail account, his search history is saved to his account. Even if you wipe your internet browser history, this stays there. You need to make it so Google don't save your searches. If he isn't aware of this, then he's probably been caught red handed and got away with it.
OP, there's no way an 'account suspended' would come up rather than a website's homepage unless that person was automatically logged in so when you visit the page, you're already signed in. Then if the account has subsequently been suspended, it would give you the page you encountered.

Now, he could be telling the truth, but this whole thing throws up red flags to me. Maybe he signed up as he was curious and never did anything about it? If he comes back with the 'it was a mate' excuse, I'd call bull on that too....

Lorna123

greeny5342 wrote: »

I know but it seems strange ive never seen any websites that lead to something saying account suspended

I would imagine that if he was a member of this site he would have had to have a username and password and the "account suspended" would not come up until that information was put in and he was trying to log in, but "account suspended" came up straight away which sounds peculiar to me. I have had lots of things suggested to me in search engines when I go to look for something and these would not have been sites that I had been in before.

LegacyUser

Richy06 wrote: »

The search popped up when you typed 's' into the search engine because it was one of the most searched terms under that particular email account. For example, if it was Google and he was signed into his Gmail account, his search history is saved to his account. Even if you wipe your internet browser history, this stays there. You need to make it so Google don't save your searches. If he isn't aware of this, then he's probably been caught red handed and got away with it.
OP, there's no way an 'account suspended' would come up rather than a website's homepage unless that person was automatically logged in so when you visit the page, you're already signed in. Then if the account has subsequently been suspended, it would give you the page you encountered.

Now, he could be telling the truth, but this whole thing throws up red flags to me. Maybe he signed up as he was curious and never did anything about it? If he comes back with the 'it was a mate' excuse, I'd call bull on that too....

Thanks I know it was a bit too naive of me to think it was nothing but I wanted to believe him, I feel like a fool really can't believe he would even go on a website like that even if he didn't do anything he obviously doesn't think much of the relationship either way. Not sure how to approach him about it now because I doubt he will say anything other than what he said before he'll never admit to it.

Richy06

Lorna123 wrote: »

I would imagine that if he was a member of this site he would have had to have a username and password and the "account suspended" would not come up until that information was put in and he was trying to log in, but "account suspended" came up straight away which sounds peculiar to me. I have had lots of things suggested to me in search engines when I go to look for something and these would not have been sites that I had been in before.

If he had it set to save his log in details, then it would go straight to the index page past the home page, upon which the 'account suspended' would have popped up.

Lorna123

I wonder would he go to the trouble of setting it up like this though if it was something he was trying to hide. Of course I have no idea whether he was a member of this site or not, just speculating.

wallycharlo

I have had many cases where unwanted pron sites have popped up in a new window etc, particularly when using torrent sites, or looking for other downloads such as drivers, etc.

The 'account suspended' may in fact have been hard coded into the page and may have been just an attempt to get you curious so that you would then click on something else on that page, which would then bring you to wherever it was that the author of the page wanted you to go ...

LegacyUser

I confronted him again and he stuck to his story said it was just a 'simple link' and that anyone with basic knowledge would see that.
He said that if i typed the same link in my toolbar on the exact same think would pop up so I said give me the link then and of course he had deleted them all.

Lorna123

So if the link just popped up when you typed the letter "s" into his search engine and he said it would come up again if you did it again, then why didn't it. Or if he meant it would come up on your computer then why didn't it. Him deleting anything should not make any difference.
Not sure myself what swinging sites are but thought they were for couples to exchange partners for sex. So if he was a member and using this facility would you not have had to have been involved too for it to work?

LegacyUser

OP, here is what I think might have happened.

I think he may have come across this site and set up an account out of curiosity or for a bit of titilation. You say you don't live too close, so I'm assuming there are some lonely nights at home and he had a look at this as an alternative to porn.

I say this because one night at home after a few drinks, I went on to one of these sites. The next day I turned on my laptop, got pretty embarrassed about it and deleted the account. I never intended to do anything about it, just pure pervy curiosity got the better of me. Also, these things aren't geared towards single males...do you think couples have to search online to find a single guy up for that kind of thing?

He was probably too embarrassed/worried that you would jump to conclusions and that's why he didn't admit it. Would he admit to watching porn and are you ok with that? I think it is something similar.

wallycharlo

sunflower27 wrote: »

...If the guy cleared all his history, he is anxious over something....

I can see how this would seem suspicious in this case, but it is also worth keeping in mind that some people, who have nothing at all to hide, also clear their browser history regularly.

Personally I clear mine at the end of every day, both on my work computer and also on my private one at home. It's a good security tip against identlty theft and other private data been compromised.

My history gets regularly wiped, not because I'm trying to hide anything, but because I maintain my laptop using a program called CCleaner, which clears my cache, history, temporary internet files, and fixes various things. If the guy is tech-savy and was really trying to hide something, then he should know about incognito browsing. I believe most browsers now support this.

wallycharlo

Deleted User wrote: »

My history gets regularly wiped, not because I'm trying to hide anything, but because I maintain my laptop using a program called CCleaner, which clears my cache, history, temporary internet files, and fixes various things. If the guy is tech-savy and was really trying to hide something, then he should know about incognito browsing. I believe most browsers now support this.

You can actually clear your browsing history, form and search history, etc just by hitting CTRL + SHIFT + DEL and then RETURN, it's that easy (on firefox anyway, I'm sure it's also just as easy on other browsers).

wallycharlo

sunflower27 wrote: »

I clear mine, too, but I wouldn't clear it and then say to someone, 'here, have a look and see for yourself that there is nothing there'. It reeks of a guilty conscience.

That is indeed a good point

Ah I love CCleaner though.. it's good for maintaining what start ups, fixes registry issues, and whatnot.

Apologies, got distracted -

here's a question though. If he uses Google Chrome, then when you get a new laptop, you can import all your saved passwords, bookmarks, preferences and whatnot into it. Is it possible that this is what happened and Chrome kept him logged on on this swingers' site? If so, there's a chance he went on it before he met the OP, the account got suspended, but the site itself was saved as a bookmark.

I just did a check and sites I haven't visited in maybe two years came up when I started typing them in the search bar, because they have been saved as a bookmark. Maybe he knows he was on the site, but is too embarrassed to admit it because you cornered him about it.

Richy06

Whatever the actual story is, OP, I reckon he's hiding something. I clear my internet history as well, but I don't clear my cookies and passwords everyday because it would be a pain in the hole to have to input them every day. This stinks of a cover up.

wallycharlo

Richy06 wrote: »

Whatever the actual story is, OP, I reckon he's hiding something. I clear my internet history as well, but I don't clear my cookies and passwords everyday because it would be a pain in the hole to have to input them every day. This stinks of a cover up.

Clearing the history and then handing it over to someone as 'proof' clearly sounds suspicious, as Sunflower27 pointed out.

But I would not taket the fact that someone clears cookies and passwords regularly as a sign of guilt in it's own right. I do so everyday, as do many others I know. It's good IT practice.

LegacyUser

Thanks for all your input he explained what it might be last night and I believe him I think but thought id share in case im ignoring the obvious again.

He said that is was because the website had been suspended and nothing to do with him having a personal account the link which led to the page had .cgi-sys in it and he googled it and it meant that the hosting account was suspended. Im not sure if that makes any sense especially since I can access the home page of that website just fine but im inclined to believe him.

strobe

greeny5342 wrote: »

Thanks for all your input he explained what it might be last night and I believe him I think but thought id share in case im ignoring the obvious again.

He said that is was because the website had been suspended and nothing to do with him having a personal account the link which led to the page had .cgi-sys in it and he googled it and it meant that the hosting account was suspended. Im not sure if that makes any sense especially since I can access the home page of that website just fine but im inclined to believe him.

Seeing as you now know the website, if you start an account on the site and close it you will be able to see if, when you re-enter it, you get the same screen as when you accessed it on your bf's computer or not.

I think the hosting account being suspended resulting in an "account suspended" makes far more sense than a screen like that popping up because someone had previously closed an account they had. I don't think any website would greet you with an "account suspended" screen once you close your account. You'd just get the home screen as normal.

However... entering "s" into a browser search bar and getting a swingers site thrown straight up does mean he was searching for either swingers sites or had entered that site in particular into the address bar.
There's a million things that "s" will throw up in suggestions before a specific swingers site if that wasn't what was previously searched for.
What's the browser? It should be easy to replicate the incident. Download the browser he was using, type "s" in and see what happens. Then do searches for swingers site and that site in particular and type "s" in again.

Again however... like myThoughts said, even if he had been on that site or searching for swingers sites it could well be just "pervy curiosity" rather than that he was, or was going to, cheat on you or anything like that.

That does not change the fact that he lied to you when confronted though. Which is an issue in it's self, even if he was just looking at swingers sites for titliation, rather than anything worse.