Google Survey scam – misleading popup ads offering fake prizes

“Google Survey” is a scam, which shows up on PCs that are infected with an adware program.[1] It asks the user to participate in a short online survey and win a new iPhone X. Scammers employ psychological strategies to mislead unsuspecting users and extort their personal information, such as their name, telephone number, email address, home address, and so on.
To trick people into believing that the “Google Survey” scam is genuine, scammers have been employing various psychological strategies. They post information about winners of the previous week, indicate the number of prizes left, and create a feeling of urgency by providing a countdown timer. “Google Survey” virus generates the following notification on Chrome regularly:
Google Survey
Every Tuesday exclusive internet/Communication companies select (7) users in the US to randomly to receive a gift. This week, it is for jump management srl connection with generic web browser Desktop! You need to key in your details for verification!
(5) users have won the New iphone x.Only (2) units left (Space Gray 64GB Only) for grabs.
You have 0 minutes 39 seconds to answer the questions before someone else takes over your spot. Good luck!!!Are you the owner of this smartphone?
Yes
No
As you can see, the first question is rather neutral – scammers ask if the PC's owner has a smartphone. No matter which answer the user selects, he or she receives the following question which asks providing more personal information than that.
Be very careful and do not fall for “Google Survey” virus. The information that the scam is set to collect can easily be used for sending you spam, initiating malicious phone calls,[2] and similar crimes.
Also, some of the questions may ask you about your PC's health and prompt to install suspicious third-party PC boosters. To prevent malware on your PC, make sure to remove “Google Survey” scam asap. For this purpose, we recommend using FortectIntego.

Program that you should remove to stop fake pop-ups
The reason why Google Chrome keeps showing pop-up windows with survey requests is adware program. This type of applications spread with a pack of malicious codes, which once executed dop an extension into Google Chrome and start generating diverse third-party ads.
Some of the ads displayed by adware can offer to purchase favorite products, so clicking on them should probably redirect you doubtful third-party online shops. Th other ads can ask to participate in surveys, claim prizes or scan the system for malware. The second type of ads is much more dangerous because scammers may try to extort personal information or spread malware[3] this way.
To protect Google Chrome from the flood of scam, it's essential that you install free programs with extreme carefulness. Potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), such as adware and browser hijackers, most frequently spread as hidden freeware attachments. To unhide those attachments, always follow Advanced or Custom installation setup and uncheck pre-marked checkboxes.
Google Survey virus removal guide
To get rid of Google Survey scam from Google Chrome web browser it's a must to eliminate the adware. Normally, they are included in Control Panel and have an automatic uninstaller. However, more aggressive adware programs don't have uninstallers and cannot be found in Control Panel. In this case, we would strongly recommend using FortectIntego. This tool will detect and remove Google Survey automatically.
Google Survey removal tutorial below will help those who prefer manual PC wiping. Draw your attention to the fact that adware removal is complete only when malware is removed, and web browser reset.
Uninstall from Windows
Uninstall from Windows 10/8:
- Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:
- In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
- If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS
Remove the unwanted application:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
- Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.

- Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.
Reset Internet Explorer
Remove dangerous add-ons:
- Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
- Pick Manage Add-ons.
- You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:
- Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Internet Options.
- In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
- Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:
- Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
- Under Browsing history, click Delete...
- Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:
- Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
- This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Settings.
- Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data...
- Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.

- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.
Reset Google Chrome:
If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
- Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

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