This article presents information about an online scam dubbed “Dear user, congratulations!” scam as well as help for its complete removal from the affected system.
“Dear user, congratulations!” is an online scam that interrupts browsing sessions in the form of a sudden redirect. Once it loads in the browser it could attempt to trick you into providing sensitive details such as banking credentials, personal data and account logins. In order to obtain data, this scam presents a misleading message about a gift you could receive.
Threat Summary
| Name | "Dear user, congratulations!" |
| Type | Scam, Redirect |
| Short Description | A deceptive web page that congratilates you for the chance to participate in a game with rewards. |
| Symptoms | Regular browsing is interrupted by annoying redirects. You see misleading messages that attempt to convince you into participating in fake reward games. |
| Distribution Method | Corrupted Websites, Freeware Installations, Bundled Packages |
| Detection Tool |
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| User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss "Dear user, congratulations!". |
“Dear user, congratulations!” Scam – Spread Techniques
Browser redirects appear to be the main technique used for the spread of “Dear user, congratulations!” scam message. So this scam is likely to be able to affect all commonly used web browsers (Chrome, Mozilla, Explorer, Safari, Opera, Edge, etc.).
Another reason for its unexpected appearance may be an unattended installation of any potentially unwanted program. How such a program could have landed on your device is as a part of software bundles.
The installation of PUPs usually occurs during the installation of desired free third-party applications. Unfortunately, this process often happens without your knowledge. This is due to the fact that freeware installers do not disclose properly the presence of any extras. Since there is also an option that enables the default installation of these extras you could easily end up with a running undesired app on your device once you click the Finish button presented by the installer.
A way to prevent installing undesired apps while installing desired apps is the choice of the Advanced/Custom configuration option as sometimes it reveals the presence of PUPs and enables you to opt out their installation.
“Dear user, congratulations!” Scam – More About Its Impact
“Dear user, congratulations!” is an online scam that affects commonly used web browsers in the form of a browser redirect. It could be generated by a large number of bogus domain addresses. One of these addresses was detected to be canadasweeps.club.
Here is the text you are likely to see when the scam loads in your browser:
Dear Chrome user, congratulations!
We want to thank you for being loyal Chrome Australia user! Your IP address – has been randomly selected to receive a Apple iPhone X.
From time to time we select a handful of Chrome users to give them the opportunity to receive valuable gifts from our partners and sponsors. This is our way of thanking you for choosing Chrome as your preferred service.
Today is your lucky day! You are one of the 10 randomly selected users who will receive a new Apple iPhone X.
To receive your gift, you simply have to complete our short and anonymous survey. But hurry! There are only a few gifts available today!
How satisfied are you with Chrome?
[Very Satisfied] [Satisfied] [Unsatisfied]
It is likely to be spread across all commonly used web browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera, etc. As of the presented message, it could provide different information based on your location, current browser type, characteristics and visited websites.
One of the purposes of this misleading message is to convince you into participating in some kind of a game or a survey as this will give you the chance to win in this case an iPhone X. However, if you grab the chance you could become a target of fraudsters and malware actors.
The primary purpose of “Dear user, congratulations!” scam is definitely data theft. By offering you tempting gifts it aims to make you more prone to share sensitive details. For example, it could redirect you to a page that asks for banking credentials, device login, social media logins and other personal details.
Furthermore, this scam is also likely to utilize different tracking technologies to obtain some additional details automatically. Gathered could be:
- Browsing history
- Browser’s home page
- Search queries
- Search queries on the visited web pages
- Type of used browser
- Operating system type
- Internet protocol (IP) address
- Geographic location
- The domain name of current Internet service provider (ISP)
In order to prevent this scam from accessing your browser, you should consider its immediate removal.
How to Remove “Dear user, congratulations!” Scam
In order to remove “Dear user, congratulations!” scam and all associated files that enable its appearance in the browser, you need to pass through several removal steps. They are all presented in the removal guide below. The guide enables you to choose between manual and automatic removal approach. Our advice is to combine the steps as this way you will be able not only to get rid of this particular undesired program but also strengthen the security of your device. Have in mind that files associated with this redirect may have different names than “Dear user, congratulations!”.
In case that you have further questions or need additional help with the removal process, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us at our email.
Gergana Ivanova
Highly motivated writer with 5+ years of experience writing for ransomware, malware, adware, PUPs, and other cybersecurity-related issues. As a writer, I strive to create content that is based on thorough technical research. I find joy in the process of creating articles that are easy to understand, informative, and useful. Follow me on Twitter (@IRGergana) for the latest in the field of computer, mobile, and online security.
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- Guide 1: How to Remove "Dear user, congratulations!" from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of "Dear user, congratulations!" on Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove "Dear user, congratulations!" in Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase "Dear user, congratulations!" from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall "Dear user, congratulations!" from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove "Dear user, congratulations!" from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate "Dear user, congratulations!" from Internet Explorer.
- Guide 8: Disable "Dear user, congratulations!" Push Notifications in Your Browsers.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
About the "Dear user, congratulations!" Research
The content we publish on SensorsTechForum.com, this "Dear user, congratulations!" how-to removal guide included, is the outcome of extensive research, hard work and our team’s devotion to help you remove the specific, adware-related problem, and restore your browser and computer system.
How did we conduct the research on "Dear user, congratulations!"?
Please note that our research is based on independent investigation. We are in contact with independent security researchers, thanks to which we receive daily updates on the latest malware, adware, and browser hijacker definitions.
Furthermore, the research behind the "Dear user, congratulations!" threat is backed with VirusTotal https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload.
To better understand this online threat, please refer to the following articles which provide knowledgeable details.
References
1.Browser Redirect – What Is It?
2.Adware Is Malicious, and It Uses Advanced Techniques to Infect
3.The Thin Red Line Between Potentially Unwanted Programs and Malware
4.The Pay-Per-Install Affiliate Business – Making Millions out of Adware
5.Malicious Firefox Extensions Installed by 455,000 Users Blocked Updates
How to Remove "Dear user, congratulations!" from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove "Dear user, congratulations!"
Step 2: Uninstall "Dear user, congratulations!" and related software from Windows
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:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by "Dear user, congratulations!" 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 "Dear user, congratulations!" 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.
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 "Dear user, congratulations!" with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
1. Click on the "Download" button to proceed to SpyHunter's download page.
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.
Video Removal Guide for "Dear user, congratulations!" (Windows).
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Get rid of "Dear user, congratulations!" from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall "Dear user, congratulations!" and remove related files and objects
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 "Dear user, congratulations!":
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 "Dear user, congratulations!". 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 "Dear user, congratulations!". 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”.
In case you cannot remove "Dear user, congratulations!" via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
1: Click on "Go" and Then "Go to Folder" as shown underneath:
2: Type in "/Library/LauchAgents/" and click Ok:
3: Delete all of the virus files that have similar or the same name as "Dear user, congratulations!". If you believe there is no such file, do not delete anything.
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove "Dear user, congratulations!" files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as "Dear user, congratulations!", the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Video Removal Guide for "Dear user, congratulations!" (Mac)
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Remove "Dear user, congratulations!" from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2:Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 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.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Erase "Dear user, congratulations!" from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 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.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Uninstall "Dear user, congratulations!" from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Remove "Dear user, congratulations!" from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the "Dear user, congratulations!" will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer Stop Push Pop-ups
Eliminate "Dear user, congratulations!" from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 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'.
Step 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.
Remove Push Notifications caused by "Dear user, congratulations!" from Your Browsers.
Turn Off Push Notifications from Google Chrome
To disable any Push Notices from Google Chrome browser, please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to Settings in Chrome.
Step 2: In Settings, select “Advanced Settings”:
Step 3: Click “Content Settings”:
Step 4: Open “Notifications”:
Step 5: Click the three dots and choose Block, Edit or Remove options:
Remove Push Notifications on Firefox
Step 1: Go to Firefox Options.
Step 2: Go to “Settings”, type “notifications” in the search bar and click "Settings":
Step 3: Click “Remove” on any site you wish notifications gone and click “Save Changes”
Stop Push Notifications on Opera
Step 1: In Opera, press ALT+P to go to Settings.
Step 2: In Setting search, type “Content” to go to Content Settings.
Step 3: Open Notifications:
Step 4: Do the same as you did with Google Chrome (explained below):
Eliminate Push Notifications on Safari
Step 1: Open Safari Preferences.
Step 2: Choose the domain from where you like push pop-ups gone and change to "Deny" from "Allow".
"Dear user, congratulations!" FAQ
What is "Dear user, congratulations!"?
The "Dear user, congratulations!" threat is adware or browser redirect virus. It may slow your computer down siginficantly and display advertisements. The main idea is for your information to likely get stolen or more ads to appear on your device.
The creators of such unwanted apps work with pay-per-click schemes to get your computer to visit risky or different types of websites that may generate them funds. This is why they do not even care what types of websites show up on the ads. This makes their unwanted software indirectly risky for your OS.
What are the symptoms of "Dear user, congratulations!"?
There are several symptoms to look for when this particular threat and also unwanted apps in general are active:
Symptom #1: Your computer may become slow and has poor performance in general.
Symtpom #2: You have toolbars, add-ons or extensions on your web browsers that you don't remember adding.
Symptom #3: You see all types of ads, like ad-supported search results, pop-ups and redirects to randomly appear.
Symptom #4: You see installed apps on your Mac running automatically and you do not remember installing them.
Symptom #5: You see suspicious processes running in your Task Manager.
If you see one or more of those symptoms, then security experts reccomend that you check your computer for viruses.
What types of Unwanted Programs are there?
According to most malware researchers and cyber-security experts, the threats that can currently affect your Mac can be the following types:
- Rogue Antivirus programs.
- Adware.
- Browser hijackers.
- Clickers.
- Fake optimizers.
What to do if I have a "virus" like "Dear user, congratulations!"?
Do not panic! You can easily get rid of most adware or unwanted program threats by firstly isolating them and then removing them from your browser and computer. One reccomended way to do that is by using a reputable malware removal software that can take care of the removal automatically for you. There are many anti-malware apps out there that you can choose from. SpyHunter is one of the reccomended anti-malware apps, that can scan your computer for free and detect any viruses, tracking cookies and unwanted adware apps and eliminate them quickly. This saves time when compared to doing the removal manually.
How to secure my passwords and other data from "Dear user, congratulations!"?
With few simple actions. First and foremost, it is imperative that you follow these steps:
Step 1: Find a safe computer and connect it to another network, not the one that your Mac was infected in.
Step 2: Change all of your passwords, starting from your e-mail passwords.
Step 3: Enable two-factor authentication for protection of your important accounts.
Step 4: Call your bank to change your credit card details (secret code, etc.) if you have saved your credit card for online shopping or have done online activiites with your card.
Step 5: Make sure to call your ISP (Internet provider or carrier) and ask them to change your IP address.
Step 6: Change your Wi-Fi password.
Step 7: (Optional): Make sure to scan all of the devices connected to your network for viruses and repeat these steps for them if they are affected.
Step 8: Install anti-malware software with real-time protection on every device you have.
Step 9: Try not to download software from sites you know nothing about and stay away from low-reputation websites in general.
If you follow these reccomendations, your network and all devices will become significantly more secure against any threats or information invasive software and be virus free and protected in the future too.
More tips you can find on our website, where you can also ask any questions and comment underneath the articles about your computer problems. We will try to respond as fast as possible.