Website Keeps Getting Falsely Flagged as Phishing/Malicious…

Hello! I am a small business/charter boat operator in Marina del Rey, CA. After many complaints from customers that my website "wasn't working" I was able to narrow it down specifically to Spectrum Internet users. Turns out, Spectrum's Safe Shield software that they ship on their routers has my site blocked/blacklisted. I checked my URL on VirusTotal.com and found that 6 online Security Vendors had my site flagged as either Phishing or Malicious. I submitted requests to be reviewed and reclassified to all the vendors. I was listed as clean by a couple, then relisted as a phishing threat by one of those. Now I find another vendor, Chong Lua Dao, has listed me just today as Malicious.

My Web Developer has checked all the site's DNS Settings and SSL Certificates and says everything is configured properly. His only theory is that someone, perhaps a competitor, has been intentionally reporting my website as unsafe.

The domain is hosted on SquareSpace, the site is built on Shopify. I manage it myself. There is no weird or unsafe content on the site. It's literally just promotion and booking for my Tiki Boat.

Other than continuing to request reviews and reclassifications from these security vendors, how can I identify WHY this is happening? I'd like to address whatever issues are causing these vendors to flag me. Are there people out there that I could hire to audit my site and fix whatever is causing this error?

Thank you!

Impact

The primary impact is denial of access or reputation damage due to false positive classification by security vendors, affecting legitimate users, particularly those using certain ISP security services (e.g., Spectrum Safe Shield). There is no indication of actual phishing or malware on the site, nor evidence of exploitation. The false flags may lead to loss of customer trust and business disruption.

Defensive guidance

Since this is a false positive detection issue, the recommended mitigation is to continue submitting reclassification requests to the security vendors flagging the site. The site owner should also monitor VirusTotal and similar services for changes in classification. Engaging a professional security auditor to review the site for any overlooked issues may help identify subtle causes. Vendors manage their own detection algorithms; thus, remediation depends on their review processes.

Summary

This case involves a website that is being falsely identified as phishing or malicious by several security vendors, as reported on VirusTotal and discussed on Reddit. The website owner has confirmed that DNS settings and SSL certificates are correctly configured and that the site content is legitimate. Despite submitting reclassification requests, the site continues to be flagged, possibly due to intentional false reporting. The website is hosted on third-party platforms (SquareSpace and Shopify), which typically maintain security controls. No known exploits or vulnerabilities have been identified in the site itself.

Website Keeps Getting Falsely Flagged as Phishing/Malicious By Security Vendors

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AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 29 May 2026, 22:18 UTC

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