What are Walmart Phishing viruses? Is a Walmart Phishing virus dangerous? How to remove a Walmart Phishing virus from your computer?
Walmart Phishing virus infections can happen through multiple ways. They take advantage of the name of the shopping site in order to promote themselves. The different virus attacks are being operated by different hacking groups and individuals — we have received reports of numerous campaigns that use the Walmart name in different elements. Most of them are related to malicious scripts that are found in redirects and pop-ups, as well as intrusive ads. Reading this article will help you protect yourself from bogus Walmart sites and virus infections.
Threat Summary
| Name | Walmart Phishing Virus |
| Type | Malware |
| Short Description | Virus that takes advantage of the legitimate and famous shopping site Walmart. |
| Symptoms | The symptoms may be ranging from seeing redirects to having symptom-less Trojan on your computer. |
| Distribution Method | Bundled downloads. Web pages which may advertise it. |
| Detection Tool |
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Walmart Phishing Virus. |
Walmart Phishing Virus — How Did I Get It?
The Walmart phishing virus has been detected in a global attack which is set against end users. It is probably being sent by a malicious hacking group as more than 540 domains have been identified as part of a worldwide campaign.
The hackers are spoofing the legitimate Walmart phishing site by creating copies of it, as well as dedicated elements such as login pages and certain product landing portals associated with the company. They are hosted on domain names that sound very similar to the main Walmart site. They can also include hijacked security certificates. One of the most prolific scam page associated with the Walmart phishing virus clones is a fake employee application site — it appears to be collecting personal information about the victims. It can then be used to forward them to other landing pages.
Links to the Walmart phishing virus sites can be placed in various file carriers. There are several popular variants:
- Macro-Infected Documents — The hackers can include the necessary virus installation scripts into document file formats such as the following: text files, presentations, databases, spreadsheets and etc. When they are opened by the victims a prompt will appears asking them to enable the built-in code to correctly view the contents.
- Application Installers — This is a common strategy which will integrate the setup instructions into application installers of popular software. This usually includes productivity and office apps, system utilities, creativity suites and even computer games. They are made by taking the original sample from their official pages and then modifying them in order to create the dangerous copies.
- Browser Hijackers — These are dangerous plugins made compatible with the most popular web browsers. They are frequently uploaded to the associated repositories with fake or counterfeit user reviews and developer credentials. In their descriptions various performance optimizations or new features.
All of these files can be spread across file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent which are used to spread both legitimate and pirate data.
The Walmart phishing virus strains can be sent via social networks via fake or stolen hacker-made accounts. This can include all kinds of web communities including social networks, forums, chatrooms and etc.
Walmart Phishing Virus — What Does It Do?
The current attack campaign is focused on redirecting the victims to the hacker-made Walmart phishing virus landing pages. The main goal of the attackers is to steal sensitive user data. The information can be grouped into two main categories:
- Sensitive User Data — This can be done by instructing the engine to look for data that an expose the identity of the victims. This can lead to the identification of a person’s name, address, phone numbers and even account credentials.
- Machine Information — The engine associated with the Walmart phishing virus can also be used to create an unique ID that can be assigned to each compromised host. This is based on a complete hardware profile which is generated by the engine.
Another dangerous malicious action which is often run is the modification of system configuration files. Example include the boot options which will lead to the setting of the Walmart phishing virus as a persistent threat. This means that the threat will be run as soon as the computer is powered on. Some of the advanced versions can block access to the recovery boot options making it even harder to remove the threat.
If changes to the Windows Registry values are done then the victims may experience serious performance issues, data loss and unexpected errors.
Many of the Walmart phishing virus attacks can be made in order to allow the criminals to send out other malware to the infected machines. This can include ransomware viruses which will encrypt target user data according to a built-in list of target file type extensions. The victims will find that their files are renamed with a custom extension and through ransomware notes or lockscreens will be blackmailed the hackers a decryption fee.
Another common malware which is deployed to the victims is the Trojan horse infection — dangerous standalone threats that will establish a secure and persistent connection to a set hacker-controlled server. This will allow the hackers to take over control of their machines, steal sensitive data and also spy on the victims.
Remove Walmart Phishing virus from Your Machine
In order to be able to remove Walmart Phishing virus, you should know where it’s files and objects are hidden. The main idea is to follow the removal steps below. They are made to help you isolate the virus and detect and delete the malicious files. For the complete detection and removal of Walmart Phishing virus, however, we strongly suggest that you download and run a free scan with an advanced anti-malware software. Such tool will automatically identify and eliminate all of the virus files and objects, related to any Walmart Phishing virus from your computer plus protect it in the future too.
Martin Beltov
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
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How to Remove Walmart Phishing Virus from Windows.
Step 1: Scan for Walmart Phishing Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Step 2: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode
Step 3: Uninstall Walmart Phishing Virus 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 4: Clean Any registries, Created by Walmart Phishing Virus on Your PC.
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 Walmart Phishing Virus there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
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.
Video Removal Guide for Walmart Phishing Virus (Windows).
Get rid of Walmart Phishing Virus from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Walmart Phishing Virus and remove related files and objects
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 Walmart Phishing Virus. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“-“) icon to hide it.
- 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 Walmart Phishing Virus 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:
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 Walmart Phishing Virus files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Walmart Phishing Virus, 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 Walmart Phishing Virus (Mac)
Remove Walmart Phishing Virus 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.
Erase Walmart Phishing Virus 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.
Uninstall Walmart Phishing Virus 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.
Remove Walmart Phishing Virus 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 Walmart Phishing Virus will be removed.
Eliminate Walmart Phishing Virus 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 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".
Walmart Phishing Virus-FAQ
What Is Walmart Phishing Virus?
The Walmart Phishing Virus threat is adware or browser redirect virus.
It may slow your computer down significantly 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 Walmart Phishing Virus?
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 have poor performance in general.
Symptom #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 recommend 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 Walmart Phishing Virus?
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 email 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 activities 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 recommendations, 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.
How Does Walmart Phishing Virus Work?
Once installed, Walmart Phishing Virus can collect data about your web browsing habits, such as the websites you visit and the search terms you use. This data is then used to target you with ads or to sell your information to third parties.
Walmart Phishing Virus can also download other malicious software onto your computer, such as viruses and spyware, which can be used to steal your personal information and show risky ads, that may redirect to virus sites or scams.
Is Walmart Phishing Virus Malware?
The truth is that PUPs (adware, browser hijackers) are not viruses, but may be just as dangerous since they may show you and redirect you to malware websites and scam pages.
Many security experts classify potentially unwanted programs as malware. This is because of the unwanted effects that PUPs can cause, such as displaying intrusive ads and collecting user data without the user’s knowledge or consent.
About the Walmart Phishing Virus Research
The content we publish on SensorsTechForum.com, this Walmart Phishing Virus 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 Walmart Phishing Virus?
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 Walmart Phishing Virus threat is backed with VirusTotal.
To better understand this online threat, please refer to the following articles which provide knowledgeable details.