Best Buy Survey Scam

What is Best Buy Survey scam?

Our analysis shows that it is a typical survey scam. It involves a phishing email and a fake website. The goal is to trick individuals into believing that they will receive a prize after completing certain steps. However, victims never receive any prizes and have their personal information or money (or both) stolen by scammers.

Best Buy Survey scam

Best Buy Survey scam in detail

The email promoting this scam claims that the recipient has been selected to receive a prize by completing a survey. It is designed to look like a message from Best Buy and promises a reward in exchange for "sharing opinions on store promotions". The message encourages the user to participate in a short survey and provides a button (link) to get started.

The link in this scam email opens a fake Best Buy website offering to win a Samsung S25 Ultra (or some other prize). The site instructs visitors to start a survey to receive the "prize". It also includes fake reviews to appear legitimate. Usually, scams like this one are designed to steal money or information.

Scammers seek to trick individuals into paying "shipping", "transaction", "administration", or other fees. Additionally, they employ such scams to extract personal information, such as credit card details or passwords. Either way, there are no real prizes, and falling for such scams can result in monetary loss, identity theft, account hijacking, or other issues.

Threat Summary:
Name	Fake Best Buy survey website
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Participants can receive a prize
Disguise	Legitimate survey run by Best Buy
Related Domain	kikane.myridianprizes[.]com
Detection Names (kikane.myridianprizes[.]coM)	N/A (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Unofficial domain, lack of official verification, unrealistic claims, too good-to-be-true promises
Distribution methods	Deceptive emails, fake social media accounts, deceptive websites, rogue online advertisements
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft, possible malware infections.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by RCS LT, the parent company of PCRisk.com.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this fraudulent scheme is a scam designed to steal money or personal information. There are no real prizes, and anyone who follows the instructions risks financial loss, identity theft, or account compromise. Thus, emails and websites like the ones we reviewed in our article should be avoided.

More examples of online scams are "Facebook Survey Scam", "Critical Payment Failed POP-UP Scam", and "Audius ($AUDIO) Airdrop Scam".

How did I open a scam website?

Scammers often use emails containing links or files to trick users into opening scam websites. They also employ rogue advertising networks, where users are redirected to scam sites via shady platforms, such as torrent sites, adult pages, and platforms offering illegal movie streaming.

Also, scams can be encountered via notifications from untrustworthy websites, advertisements displayed by adware, pop-ups, ads, or other content on dubious websites, and links shared using fake or stolen social media accounts.

How to avoid visiting scam pages?

Be cautious with emails or messages from unknown sources, and avoid opening attachments or clicking on any links they contain. Do not permit untrusted websites to send notifications, and stay away from ads, pop-ups, or suspicious links. Only download software from official websites or reputable app stores, and keep the operating system and applications up to date.

Use reliable security software to regularly scan the device for threats. If your computer is already infected with unwanted apps, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

The email promoting the Best Buy survey scam:

Best Buy Survey Scam promoting email

Text in this email:

It will take you only a minute to receive this fantastic prize!

BEST BUY

TAKE A SURVEY AND WIN A REWARD!

Samsung S25 Ultra

Congratulations!

Share your valuable insights and win big! You've been chosen for a quick survey about store promotions at Best Buy. By participating, you could win a Samsung S25 Ultra

To claim, simply take this short survey about your experience with Best Buy.

[GET STARTED NOW

Instant automatic malware removal:

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Quick menu:

What is Fake Best Buy survey website?
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:

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 Windows.

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 Windows) - 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is a fake online survey?

A fake online survey is a fraudulent website (or other platform) that pretends to collect opinions or feedback but is actually designed to trick people. These surveys often promise rewards, prizes, or free items to lure victims, but the offers are not real.

What is the purpose of a survey scam?

These scams are used to steal personal information, payment details, money, or login credentials, or to make users click on malicious links.

Why do I encounter scams?

Scammers lure users to fake websites through emails, malicious links, and shady platforms like torrent or illegal streaming sites. They also use pop-ups, adware, fake browser notifications, and links from stolen or fake social media accounts to lure victims.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me scams?

Combo Cleaner checks all websites visited and can identify those that are unreliable. It also detects sites that try to deliver scams, alerting the user right away and blocking access.