Scam

NYCFuddyDuddy

I keep getting pop-ups from a Google Rewards program scam. I have run a full Bitdefender scan, but it hasn't stopped the pop-ups. Please let me know if my security program has to be changed.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Dear Google customer:

Congratulations! You are one of the 100 users we have selected. You could receive an Apple iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S23, Shein $750 Gift Card, $250 Gas Gift Card, Walmart $1000 Gift Card, Apple Store $500 Gift Card, Visa $1000 Gift Card, $750 Cash App Gift Card, $100 cash after leaving a review to our products or 3 years of free membership to Netflix.

All you have to do to qualify is answer the following 9 questions.

Gjoksi

Hello.
You might be a victim of adware, so do the following:

1. Start your PC in Safe Mode, by following these steps:
   https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234
2. Open the Run command:
   https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-open-run-command-dialog-box/
   and run the below commands one by one:
   temp - delete all the folders/files in the folder
   %temp% - delete all the folders/files in the folder
   prefetch - delete all the folders/files in the folder
3. Restart your PC in General Mode, by following these steps:
   https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-restart-a-computer-in-normal-mode
4. Reset/Refresh your browsers:
   Google Chrome - https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en
   Mozilla Firefox - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings
   Microsoft Edge - https://malwaretips.com/blogs/reset-microsoft-edge/
   Opera - https://browsersolution.com/reset-opera-browser
   Vivaldi - https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/install-update/full-reset-of-vivaldi/
   Brave - https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017903152-How-do-I-reset-Brave-settings-to-default-
5. Run a System Scan with your Bitdefender program.
6. Restart your PC.
7. Scan (and disinfect, if needed) your PC with Bitdefender Rescue Environment:
   https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/29132/
8. Restart your PC.
9. If the steps provided above didn't help, do the following steps:
   Take screenshot(s) of the issue,
   create a log file on your Windows device using Bitdefender Support Tool, by following these steps:
   https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1733/
   and
   create a log file on your Windows device using BDsysLog, by following these steps:
   https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1922/
   Next, contact Bitdefender Consumer Support by e-mail:
   https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/
   with short description of the issue.
   After that, you will get an automated reply by the Bitdefender Customer Care Team, with your ticket number.
   Now, in reply to that automated reply, you can send the screenshot(s) you already took and the log files you already created in the first step.
   Since you are all done, just wait for the support engineers to investigate your issue and find a solution to fix the issue.
   Remember that the screenshot(s) and the log files will help a lot to the support engineers for better and faster investigation on your issue and finding a solution.
   NOTE: If any of the log file is larger than 25MB, you can upload the log file here:
   https://upload.bitdefender.net/
   After the upload is done, you will get a notification with the file's URL and then you can share the file's URL with the Bitdefender Consumer Support.
   Regards.

Alexandru_BD

Hello and first of all, thank you for raising awareness of this scam here.

While @Gjoksi's list may seem extensive and I appreciate the detailed post, I think the article below summarizes what must be done in such cases:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2574/

There aren't really adjustments or changes that should be made to the antivirus in this scenario, because such pop-ups do not have anything malicious attached to them, but when you click on them, they will redirect to malicious sites that try to collect your data or install abusive or dangerous software. So, they are meant to lure the user into doing something (such as responding to those questions you mentioned) and this way the sensitive data is compromised. Bitdefender cannot take any direct measures related to this type of pop-ups, such as adware that you agreed on or something you enabled, like site setting, site notification, redirects in your browser or installed toolbars, extensions or applications. But it will protect you if you click on a malicious link there.

Let us know if you could remove those unwanted pop-ups in the end.

Regards,

Alex