Summary
I've discovered a live website at catch2.org that impersonates the Catch2 project. It is not a mirror or an old version — it is a malicious clone that attempts to redirect visitors to scam/adult sites and links to other fraudulent websites. I'm reporting it here so the maintainers are aware and can warn users if needed.
Details
- The official project is hosted at
github.com/catchorg/Catch2and (to my knowledge) does not have a standalone domain. - The site at
catch2.orglooks like a legitimate project page, but:- Some buttons and links intermittently redirect to adult websites (e.g.,
x-hamster,bonga-cams). The redirects happen randomly, so the same button may work differently across visits — a common anti-detection trick. - The footer of
catch2.orgcontains a link tolastactivityview.com, which is itself a scam clone of NirSoft’s LastActivityView utility. The genuine utility is atnirsoft.net. The fake site also performs the same kind of random redirects to adult content.
- Some buttons and links intermittently redirect to adult websites (e.g.,
- Both domains appear to be part of the same scam network, cross-linking to boost perceived legitimacy.
- I visited these sites from a Linux machine, so no executable malware was involved — but the risk for Windows users who might download and run something from these pages is obvious.
Reproduction steps
- Visit
catch2.org(carefully — don't click anything without an adblocker / script blocker). - Observe the footer link titled "LastActivityView" pointing to
lastactivityview.com. - Interact with links/buttons on either site. After a few attempts, you may be redirected to explicit adult content (I saw it happen in Firefox with no special extensions).
Why this matters
- Users searching for Catch2 tutorials or downloading the framework may land on this clone and be tricked into downloading malicious files or visiting harmful sites.
- The existence of a credible-looking phishing domain damages the project's reputation and can lead to support burden.
Suggested actions (for maintainers)
- If possible, send an abuse report to the domain registrar of
catch2.org(andlastactivityview.com) for phishing/impersonation. - Consider issuing a short warning in the README or project docs that
catch2.orgis not affiliated with the project. - Optionally, reach out to Google Safe Browsing / Bing Webmaster Tools to flag the domain as deceptive.
Environment
- OS: Linux (no infection risk, I was simply researching)
- Browser: Firefox (latest stable)
Thank you for your time and for maintaining Catch2 — I hope this report helps protect the community.
Contact me:
- E-mail: vi.is.chapmann@gmail.com
- Telegram: t.me/viqxq
Screenshots of malicious sites:
Activity
3I reported this to the registrar too, bot also to their ISP. second one said "we'll do all what we can" and vanished ☹️
oof, so I got there and thought the site was hacked, even tried to send a form via javascript console. Probably never happened. I got redirected a few times when clicking anywhere :/
Yeah, I reported this to the registrar over a month ago, but nothing has ever happened.