Our website has been blacklisted by Norton Safe Web

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

Our website www.angusrowboats.com has been blacklisted by Norton Safe Web for over a month.  It is a mom and pop online store, hosted by Shopify, and this issue has very negatively been affecting sales.  We very much would like to have the situation corrected.  Steps taken so far include:

1) Requesting re-evaluation through the Norton Safe Web.

2) Having the site scanned for malware or other problems (it was squeaky clean)

3) Calling Norton regularly to see if they could advise on any actions we can do to get off the blacklist.  I have been informed that someone will get in touch with me.

4) Creating an account with Norton to register and verify the website.

5) Consulting with professionals to see if they had any insights on how we can resolve the issue (none could determine why we were being blacklisted.

I am at a bit of a loss, and would very much like to get to the bottom of this.  Could anyone suggest what the next steps would be to have this site de-blacklisted.

Thanks in advance!

[Edit: Calrified the subject]

2

Okay, thanks.

3

Hi @colin1981,

The change may take up to 48 hours to be reflected on all our servers hence you may see an occasional report of the original settings within that timeframe. I just verified and your website returns the Safe rating in our system.

4

I just received this email from the bots one hour ago saying my website has been re-assessed and has been downgraded from safe to unsafe.  I checked on Norton websafe, and it still says it's safe, but it leaves me worried that the current safe status is on an unstable foundation.

 

5

Thanks for your help.  I think there is a fundamental flaw in the Norton system.  It appears as though there is a straightforward mechanism in place to have an incorrect decision reversed, but in reality there isn't.  Nobody should have their online store blacklisted for a month without means of appeal.

I don't actually have the case number for Norton, but I called about five times through the month.  Each time I was told that the information would be passed on to the technical team and someone would reach out to me within 48-72 hours.  It was then increased to second level urgency and then third level.

With regards to the online dispute, I proceeded with that right at the beginning.  With that, as you know, it states that the website will be reviewed within 48 hours.  This is not the case.  It was reviewed (I believe by a bot) once in the month, and sadly the review decision was to retain the dangerous status.

As soon as the negative re-review was received, I resubmitted a request for another review.

I spent endless time with support from other organizations such as Shopify (who host our store), asking if they knew of any way of solving this problem, such as any alternative contacts at Norton.  They were all very sympathetic, and ran their own reviews to ensure the site was clean, but collectively we could come up with no solution.

In the early days, I created this account with Norton, and verified my website hoping to be able to gain insights into what the problem was.

It wasn't until I posted my problem on this obscure forum that the problem was finally solved.  So thank you very much for your help.  I would implore Norton, however, not to put other people through what I've had to go through.  In the process I have lost a lot of money, time, and it's been a dark cloud over my summer.

Thank you for correcting this!

6

Hi @colin1981, we have reviewed the website and changed its rating to Safe. 

In case you have a case ID from your interactions with our Norton customer service, please share the ID so we can find out why you were not called back as promised. Thank you!

 

7

Fantastic!  Thanks for your help with this!!  I've probably spent over 50 hours trying to get this resolved, and it's been causing non-stop stress for the last month.  Finally, I can put it all behind me.  Much appreciated.

 

8

 

https://angusrowboats.com

https://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=https://angusrowboats.com/ = Safe -> Vehicles

Vehicles
Sites that provide information on or promote vehicles, boats, or aircraft, including sites that support online purchase of vehicles or parts.

9

Fantastic, thanks!

10
colin1981:

I don't know what the definition of Blacklist is, but, as you can see from the file above, Norton certainly isn't presenting our website with a green light.  That is what our customers are seeing, and it's been like that through the entire month of July.  Revenue from our store has gone down fifty percent for the last month, and I'm struggling to feed the kids.

I hear you. 
We'll try to ping our contact.  

11
colin1981:

File Attachment: 
Norton Blacklist.pdf

Yes, I see Norton Safe Web rating block.
https://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=https://angusrowboats.com = Warning -> Phishing 

Phishing
Sites that are designed to appear as a legitimate bank or retailer with the intent to fraudulently capture sensitive data (i.e. credit card numbers, pin numbers).

12

I don't know what the definition of Blacklist is, but, as you can see from the file above, Norton certainly isn't presenting our website with a green light.  That is what our customers are seeing, and it's been like that through the entire month of July.  Revenue from our store has gone down fifty percent for the last month, and I'm struggling to feed the kids.

 

13

The 

14

We'll try to call attention: 

Use this form to submit URL which you believe is incorrectly classified by Norton -
Safe Web URL submission portal - https://submit.norton.com/?type=URL

15

Thanks, Sandboxy.  I have long ago submitted a request for the Norton Safe Web to review their designation for our website, and they do not get back to you in 48 hours.  You can only submit this request once, and then it says it is "under review".  As a result, I have been calling customer support every few days.  Each time I am told someone will reach out to me within 72 hours, but it never happens.  

16 
https://angusrowboats.com/

No Malware Found
Our scanner didn't detect any malware

Site is not Blacklisted 
9 Blacklists checked

https://sitecheck.sucuri.net/results/https/angusrowboats.com

No security vendors flagged this URL as malicious

https://angusrowboats.com/

angusrowboats.com  200 Status

2022-08-02 17:43:24 UTC  a moment ago

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/06037d6bbc1fc715fc75dd81276c00bd4bf6e3a1c0e1e4fdc5a7b56e2abb7f7d

17

We'll try to call attention: 

https://angusrowboats.com/

The website is currently under review. You cannot submit dispute at this moment

https://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=https://angusrowboats.com = Warning -> Phishing

Use this form to submit URL which you believe is incorrectly classified by Norton -
Safe Web URL submission portal - https://submit.norton.com/?type=URL

SafeWeb rating of the submitted website will be evaluated within the next 48 hours: