How to remove apps promoting scams like Amazon loyalty program scam?
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
(updated)
Removal instructions for apps promoting scam pages like "Amazon loyalty program"
What is "Amazon loyalty program" scam?
This deceptive website is designed to look like a legitimate survey from Amazon, although, the actual Amazon company has nothing to do with this scam. As a rule, scammers behind such pages attempt to trick visitors into believing that in return for participation in a survey they can receive some prize. It is common that such survey scams are used to extract sensitive information. It is strongly recommended not to trust this or any other deceptive, unofficial site. Also, it is worthwhile to mention that such pages often get opened through other untrustworthy sites, deceptive ads or by installed potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).
Scammers behind this website try to trick visitors into believing that they were chosen to participate in a survey and after completing that survey they will receive a prize. At the time of the research this deceptive site offered iPhone 11 Pro as a prize. It is common that such pages ask visitors not only to answer to some questions but also to provide personal, sensitive information like name, surname, email address, credit card details and/or some other details that could be misused to steal identities, make fraudulent purchases, transactions, or used for other malicious purposes. Also, quite often scam websites of this kind ask to pay some processing fees, transfer charges, etc., so that the winnings could be distributed. Although, visitors never receive any prizes. In one way or another, websites of this kind should be ignored. As mentioned in the introduction, in most cases people end up on such pages unintentionally, it is common that such pages get opened by browsers that have some PUA installed on them.
PUAs can be designed not only to promote untrustworthy, scam websites like this one, but also to collect various information and/or serve advertisements. Quire often they are designed to gather details like IP addresses, geolocations, addresses of visited websites, entered search queries, etc. However, some of them can be capable of accessing sensitive information as well. What is worse, their developers could sell gathered data to third parties (potentially cyber criminals) or misuse it to generate revenue in other ways. Also, PUAs can be designed to serve coupons, banners, pop-ups, surveys and/or other types of advertisements. When clicked, may open unreliable websites, or even execute scripts designed to cause download and/or installation of some unwanted application.
Name | Amazon loyalty program pop-up |
Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
Fake Claim | Visitors can win an iPhone 11 Pro (or other prize) |
Related Domain | freebonus2020[.]shop |
Symptoms | Fake error messages, fake system warnings, pop-up errors, hoax computer scan. |
Distribution methods | Compromised websites, rogue online pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications. |
Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft |
Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Malwarebytes. |
"$1000 Venmo Gift Card", "You've Made The 9.68-Billionth Search" and "2020 Visitor Feedback Survey" are a couple of examples of other similar scams that are used to extract sensitive information and/or money. It is common that scammers use names of well known companies to make such scams to look legitimate, however, no legitimate company or organization has anything to do with them. It is common that browsers that open such pages occasionally have some PUA installed on them. Typically, users do not download and install PUAs on purpose (knowingly).
How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?
There are advertisements on the Internet that can cause unwanted downloads and/or installations by executing certain scripts. Although, they can cause it only when users click them. In other cases users download and/or install PUAs together with some other programs - when those apps are included in their download and/or installation setups as additional offers. As a rule, offers to download and/or install PUAs can be declined in "Custom", "Advanced", or other settings of setups. Nevertheless, not all users check and change those settings when they download and install programs. When they leave default settings unchanged they give included PUAs a permission to be downloaded and/or installed too. This distribution method of PUAs is known as "bundling".
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
One way to avoid unwanted download and/or installations is to always check download and installation setups that have settings like "Custom", "Advanced" for offers to download and/or install additional, unwanted software and decline them. Another way to avoid it is to download files and programs is by official websites and direct links. It is not recommended to download and/or install anything through Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), third party downloaders, installers, unofficial pages, etc. It is common that they are used as tools to distribute unwanted (potentially malicious) software. Additionally, it is recommended not to click ads that appear on shady pages. Such ads can be designed to open questionable websites or cause unwanted downloads, installations. If there are some unwanted extensions, plug-ins or add-ons installed on a browser, or programs of this kind are installed on the operating system, then they should be uninstalled. If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Malwarebytes for Windows to automatically eliminate them.
The appearance of "Amazon loyalty program" pop-up scam (GIF):
Text presented in "Amazon loyalty program" scam page:
Amazon loyalty program
Congratulations!
Today, 18 September 2020, you have been chosen to participate in our survey. It will only take you a minute and you will receive a fantastic prize: an iPhone 11 Pro!
Each Friday we randomly choose 10 users to give them a chance to win amazing prizes. Today's prize is a iPhone 11 Pro! There will be 10 lucky winners. This promotion is only valid for United Kingdom!
This survey aims to improve the quality of service for our users and your participation will be rewarded 100%.
You only have 0 minutes and 00 seconds, to answer this survey!
Hurry up, the number of prizes available is limited
Screenshot of a browser notification (delivered by speredbin[.]top website) which redirects to a deceptive site (frees-prize[.]vip) designed to deliver "Amazon Loyalty Program" pop-up scam:
Screenshot of the said website (frees-prize[.]vip):
Text presented within:
Amazon loyalty program!
Today, 6 November 2020, you have been randomly selected to take this survey. It will only take a minute and you will receive a amazing prize: iPhone 11 Pro!
Like every Friday, we offer amazing prizes to 10 users. Today's prize is an iPhone 11 Pro! Only 10 lucky users living in United States will be the winners!This survey is conducted to improve the services provided to our users, and your participation will be 100% rewarded!
Hurry up, the prizes are limited!
Instant automatic malware removal:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Amazon loyalty program"?
- STEP 1. Uninstall deceptive applications using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove rogue extensions from Google Chrome.
- STEP 3. Remove potentially unwanted plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 4. Remove rogue extensions from Safari.
- STEP 5. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
- STEP 6. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.
Removal of potentially unwanted applications:
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
Windows XP users:
Click Start, choose Settings and click Control Panel. Locate and click Add or Remove Programs.
Windows 10 and Windows 8 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Mac OSX users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window, look for any suspicious/recently-installed applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted application, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Remove rogue extensions from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and remove them.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the amazon loyalty program pop-up, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plugins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions", in the opened window remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with amazon loyalty program pop-up removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....
In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the amazon loyalty program pop-up, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the amazon loyalty program pop-up, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Summary:
Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.
Removal assistance:
If you are experiencing problems while trying to remove amazon loyalty program pop-up from your computer, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.
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