$1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam

by Ventsislav Krastev | December 20, 2018 | 0 Comments browser redirect, PUP, scam

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This article aims to explain what is the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam and show you how to remove the ad-supported software causing these pop-ups to appear on your computer.

A new gift card scam has been detected to show images of a $1000 voucher for Best Buy. The scam reportedly displays banners that ask victims to enter their e-mail or fill out a survey in order to get a $1000 Gift Card for the chain retailer Best Buy. Since these banners are likely fake and caused by adware or websites with low reputation, we have created this instructive article with the main idea to help you identify the source of the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card scam and show you how to remove it effectively.

Threat Summary

Name	$1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam
Type	Adware
Short Description	A scam banner that aims to convince users to fill in a survey that asks for their personal and financial information with claims that after this, they will win a free Best Buy gift card.
Symptoms	Your web browser begins to display various types of online ads and $1000 Best Buy Gift Card banners, which results in slowing down of your PC.
Distribution Method	Bundled downloads. Web pages which may advertise it.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam.

$1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam – How Does It Spread

According to most recent information the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card scam was encountered on web pages that appeared on victims’ computers as a result of browser redirection occuring either via a website or via an unwanted program that may be installed on the victim PC.

These types of programs are usually spread as a result of software bunlding, meaning that they may be automatically installed on computers alongside the installation wizards of other free programs downloaded from software providing websites. Such programs often end up being your free media player, free converter and other freeware that is openly available. The bad thing here is that most software providing websites often end up adding the setups of unwanted software in order to make profit by aggressively advertising it “as an optional offer”.

$1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam – More Information

As soon as the unwanted program is added to the victims’ computers, it may immediately begin displaying different types of advertisements:

Pop-ups.
Browser redirects.
Banners.
Ad-supported search results.

In addition to this, the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card scam may also appear in different banners and redirects. We have detected only some of them, shown in the images below:

The banners may ask victims to fill out surveys that ask them to type in different information. So far, in relation ot the $1000 Gift Card scams surveys, we have detected the following data to be requested from victims:

Gender.
Age.
Full name.
Address.
Personal ID number.
Credit card number or IBAN.
City.
Zip Code.
Country.
Telephone.
Email.
Password.

Furthermore, the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card may also use different tracking technologies while you type in your information in order to obtain it. This method is called phishing and the sites which pretend to provide you services are phishing sites with their main goal of using cookies and other trackers to see what you type on those sites and extract this data. The information which you have provided may then either be sold in the underground marketplaces or be used to either steal your identity or steal money from your Bank Account. In addition to this, filling out such surveys may also make you accidentally agree to terms you have not even seen. Either way, it is best to avoid those type of scams and remove any adware and unwanted programs that may display you advertisements that lead to such sites.

Remove $1000 Best Buy Gift Card – Related Adware

If you want to remove the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam from your computer, we would strongly recommend that you backup your files beforehand. This will help you in making sure that you stay safe during the removal. To delete any adware that may be residing on you computer and showing the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card scam pop-ups, we advise you to follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They have been arranged so that you first try removing all files and objects related to the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card scam manually. If this does not seem to show any results, you can remove the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card automatically by using an advanced anti-malware software. This program will effectively help you remove all of the unwanted programs, allegedly related to $1000 Best Buy Gift Card scam and will also make sure to set up protection against future infections.

Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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REMOVE IT NOW (PC)

with Spy Hunter

$1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download SpyHunter and run free scan to remove all virus files on your PC. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Preparation before removing $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.
Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

1. Hold Windows key() + R

2. The “Run” Window will appear. In it, type “msconfig” and click OK.

3. Go to the “Boot” tab. There select “Safe Boot” and then click “Apply” and “OK”.

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on “Restart” to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Clean any registries, created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 3: Find files created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam

For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

1: On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

2: Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

3: Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

3: After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

IMPORTANT!
Before starting “Step 4”, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4: Scan for $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Step 5 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam.

Ransomware infections and $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that these methods may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.

Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software.
Another method for restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some suggestions for preferred data recovery software solutions:

Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors.
If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:

Method 3: Using Shadow Explorer

To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for Volume Shadow Copies, if ransomware has not deleted them, in Windows using the below software:

Shadow Explorer

Method 4: Finding the decryption key while the cryptovirus sends it over a network via a sniffing tool.

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:

Instructions on How to Find Decryption Key for Files Encrypted By Ransowmare

Ventsislav Krastev

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OFFER

REMOVE IT NOW (PC)

with Spy Hunter

Preparation before removing $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.
Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

1. Hold Windows key() + R

2. The “Run” Window will appear. In it, type “msconfig” and click OK.

3. Go to the “Boot” tab. There select “Safe Boot” and then click “Apply” and “OK”.

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on “Restart” to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Clean any registries, created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 3: Find files created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam

For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

1: On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Step 4: Scan for $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Ventsislav Krastev

More Posts - Website

OFFER

REMOVE IT NOW (PC)

with Spy Hunter

Preparation before removing $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1: Uninstall $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam and related software from Windows

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

1. Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear.

2. In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER.

3. This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall”

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

Step 2: Clean your Browsers from $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam.

Remove an extension from Mozilla Firefox

Remove an extension from Google Chrome

Remove an extension from Internet Explorer

Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge

1. Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

3. Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“

4. After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.

4. After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Internet Explorer:
2. Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

3. In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.

4. Select the extension you want to remove and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

5. After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ button located at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Edge

2. Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

3. From the drop menu select “Extensions”.

4. Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

5. Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Step 3: Clean any registries, created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 4: Scan for $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Ventsislav Krastev

More Posts - Website

OFFER

REMOVE IT NOW (MAC)

with Combo Cleaner

$1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download Combo Cleaner and run free scan to remove all virus files on your Mac. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Combo Cleaner’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read Combo Cleaner’s EULA and Privacy Policy

Preparation Phase:

Before starting to follow the steps below, be advised that you should first do the following preparations:

Backup your files in case the worst happens.
Make sure to have a device with these instructions on standy.
Arm yourself with patience.

Step 1: Uninstall $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam and remove related files and objects

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your Mac with Combo Cleaner

Keep in mind, that Combo Cleaner needs to purchased to remove the malware threats. Click on the corresponding links to check Combo Cleaner’s EULA and Privacy Policy

1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it:

3. In the Activity Monitor look for any suspicious processes, belonging or related to $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam:

Tip: To quit a process completely, choose the “Force Quit” option.

4. Click on the “Go” button again, but this time select Applications. Another way is with the ⇧+⌘+A buttons.

5. In the Applications menu, look for any suspicious app or an app with a name, similar or identical to $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam. If you find it, right-click on the app and select “Move to Trash”.

6. Select Accounts, after which click on the Login Items preference. Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“–“) icon to hide it.

7. Remove any left-over files that might be related to this threat manually by following the sub-steps below:

Go to Finder.
In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.

Step 2: Remove $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam – related extensions from your Mac’s browsers

Remove a toolbar from Mozilla Firefox

Remove a toolbar from Google Chrome

Remove an extension from Safari and reset it.

1. Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

3. Select the Extension and click “Remove“

4. After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the add-on and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.

4. After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Safari

2. After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.

3. From the menu, click on “Preferences“

4. After that, select the ‘Extensions’ Tab

5. Click once on the extension you want to remove.

6. Click ‘Uninstall’

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam will be removed.

How to Reset Safari
IMPORTANT: Before resetting Safari make sure you back up all your saved passwords within the browser in case you forget them.

Start Safari and then click on the gear leaver icon.

Click the Reset Safari button and you will reset the browser.

Step 3: Scan for and remove $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam files from your Mac

When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as $1000 Best Buy Gift Card Scam, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. Combo Cleaner offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.

Download

Combo Cleaner