Avoid being scammed by Voodoosrc websites

What are the "Voodoosrc" sites?

Voodoosrc is a group of deceptive websites, which are designed to run various online scams. Voodoosrc has been observed promoting the "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" scheme, however, other scams can also be accessed through these sites.

Few visitors access these web pages intentionally - most are redirected to them via redirects caused by intrusive advertisements or Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs). Note that these apps do not need express permission to be installed onto systems.

Scams are designed for one purpose: to generate revenue for the scammers behind them. For example, "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" claims that people can win a prize (fake) if they complete a short survey, however, after the questionnaire is submitted, rather than receiving the promised reward, users' trust is abused in varied ways.

They might be asked to pay fraudulent shipping fees or make payments on other false pretences. Additionally, any information provided to such schemes (e.g. email, social media, banking account credentials, credit card details, etc.) can be stolen and misused. Therefore, do not trust Voodoosrc web pages, since this can lead to serious issues.

PUAs can force-open deceptive/scam sites (such as Voodoosrc), however, they cause redirects to sale-based, untrusted, rogue, compromised and malicious pages as well. These unwanted applications might have additional capabilities.

They can deliver intrusive ads (pop-ups, banners, coupons, surveys, etc.) that diminish the browsing experience by limiting browsing speed and website visibility. Additionally, once clicked, these advertisements redirect to likewise harmful websites and even execute scripts to stealthily download/install rogue software (e.g. PUAs).

Other PUAs can modify browser settings and restrict/deny access to settings. PUAs often have data tracking capabilities, which are employed to monitor users' browsing activity. Information of interest includes IP addresses, browsing and search engine histories, geolocations and personal details.

The gathered data is often shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) seeking to misuse it for profit. Therefore, PUAs can cause various system infiltration and infections and lead to serious privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft. To ensure device and user safety, remove all suspect applications and browser extensions/plug-ins immediately upon detection .

Threat Summary:

Name	Voodoosrc pop-up
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Mac malware, Mac virus.
Fake Claim	Variant of the scam claims users can win a prize.
Related Domains	voodoosrc17[.]live; voodoosrc19[.]live; voodoosrc21[.]live; voodoosrc22[.]live; voodoosrc23[.]live; voodoosrc26[.]live; voodoosrc30[.]live; voodoosrc34[.]live
Detection Names (voodoosrc17[.]live)	G-Data (Phishing), Fortinet (Spam), Spamhaus (Spam), Full List (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (voodoosrc17[.]live)	185.89.102.159
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Finderprize, Prizeseeker, Vnbue and Hndry are some examples of other scam site families similar to Voodoosrc. By using social engineering and scare tactics, these schemes often trick users into performing certain actions.

Visitors to such websites are forced into making monetary transactions, revealing their personal information, calling fake and expensive support/service lines, downloading/installing or purchasing dubious or malicious content, and so on.

Popular scam models include (but are not limited to) prize giveaways, "amazing offers", alerts that a crucial piece of software is outdated/missing, warnings that the system is infected, etc. Deceptive web pages are common, and thus you are advised to exercise caution when browsing.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

Some PUAs have "official" download pages, which are often promoted by other deceptive/scam sites, however, PUAs also proliferate via the download/installation set-ups of other products. This deceptive marketing technique of pre-packing regular software with unwanted or malicious additions is called "bundling".

Rushing download and installation processes (e.g. ignoring terms, skipping steps, using pre-set options, etc.) increases the risk of unintentionally allowing bundled content onto systems. Intrusive ads also proliferate these applications. When clicked, they can execute scripts to download/install PUAs without users' consent.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

All products should be researched prior download/installation. You are advised to use official and verified download channels. Untrustworthy sources such as free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks (BitTorrent, Gnutella, eMule, etc.) and other third party downloaders can offer bundled content.

When downloading/installing, read the terms, study all available options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opt-out of additional apps, tools, features and so on. Intrusive advertisements typically seem legitimate and harmless, however, they can redirect to highly dubious web pages (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating and others).

If you experience ads/redirects of this kind, immediately inspect the system and remove all suspicious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins. If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.

Appearance of a Voodoosrc site promoting the "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" scam (GIF):

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▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is Voodoosrc pop-up?
• How to identify a pop-up scam?
• How do pop-up scams work?
• How to remove fake pop-ups?
• How to prevent fake pop-ups?
• What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?

How to identify a pop-up scam?

Pop-up windows with various fake messages are a common type of lures cybercriminals use. They collect sensitive personal data, trick Internet users into calling fake tech support numbers, subscribe to useless online services, invest in shady cryptocurrency schemes, etc.

While in the majority of cases these pop-ups don't infect users' devices with malware, they can cause direct monetary loss or could result in identity theft.

Cybercriminals strive to create their rogue pop-up windows to look trustworthy, however, scams typically have the following characteristics:

• Spelling mistakes and non-professional images - Closely inspect the information displayed in a pop-up. Spelling mistakes and unprofessional images could be a sign of a scam.
• Sense of urgency - Countdown timer with a couple of minutes on it, asking you to enter your personal information or subscribe to some online service.
• Statements that you won something - If you haven't participated in a lottery, online competition, etc., and you see a pop-up window stating that you won.
• Computer or mobile device scan - A pop-up window that scans your device and informs of detected issues - is undoubtedly a scam; webpages cannot perform such actions.
• Exclusivity - Pop-up windows stating that only you are given secret access to a financial scheme that can quickly make you rich.

Example of a pop-up scam:

How do pop-up scams work?

Cybercriminals and deceptive marketers usually use various advertising networks, search engine poisoning techniques, and shady websites to generate traffic to their pop-ups. Users land on their online lures after clicking on fake download buttons, using a torrent website, or simply clicking on an Internet search engine result.

Based on users' location and device information, they are presented with a scam pop-up. Lures presented in such pop-ups range from get-rich-quick schemes to fake virus scans.

How to remove fake pop-ups?

In most cases, pop-up scams do not infect users' devices with malware. If you encountered a scam pop-up, simply closing it should be enough. In some cases scam, pop-ups may be hard to close; in such cases - close your Internet browser and restart it.

In extremely rare cases, you might need to reset your Internet browser. For this, use our instructions explaining how to reset Internet browser settings.

How to prevent fake pop-ups?

To prevent seeing pop-up scams, you should visit only reputable websites. Torrent, Crack, free online movie streaming, YouTube video download, and other websites of similar reputation commonly redirect Internet users to pop-up scams.

To minimize the risk of encountering pop-up scams, you should keep your Internet browsers up-to-date and use reputable anti-malware application. For this purpose, we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS.

What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?

This depends on the type of scam that you fell for. Most commonly, pop-up scams try to trick users into sending money, giving away personal information, or giving access to one's device.

• If you sent money to scammers: You should contact your financial institution and explain that you were scammed. If informed promptly, there's a chance to get your money back.
• If you gave away your personal information: You should change your passwords and enable two-factor authentication in all online services that you use. Visit Federal Trade Commission to report identity theft and get personalized recovery steps.
• If you let scammers connect to your device: You should scan your computer with reputable anti-malware (we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS) - cyber criminals could have planted trojans, keyloggers, and other malware, don't use your computer until removing possible threats.
• Help other Internet users: report Internet scams to Federal Trade Commission.

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