You’ve Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 (Removal Guide) - Mar 2018 update
You’ve Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 Removal Guide
What is You’ve Been Selected To Test iPhone 9?
You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 is a fake notification reporting about an invented prize
You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 is a scam[1] which started spreading on the Internet in March 2018. Its performance and design are similar to other survey scams alerts, including 2018 Annual Visitor Survey or Win an iPhone X. Usually, You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 virus show up on the web browser's screen unexpectedly and ask the potential victim to answer a couple of questions in exchange of the possibility to Test iPhone 9.
Name | You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 |
---|---|
Type | Adware |
Sub-type | Survey scam |
Danger level | Medium (can cause money and personal information loss) |
Distribution methods | Freeware, shareware, fake software updates, hacked websites |
Symptoms | Fake notifications about invented prizes, redirects to unknown websites, slow downs on web browser |
Main dangers | A risk of revealing personal information, a risk of being tricked into installing malware |
Fixing the issue | The easiest way to fix the problem is run a full system scan with FortectIntego |
iPhone 9 scam might be generated by hacked websites, such as gifthunter.top, jsw.jsfor.net, epctrking.com, customer.visitorsurvey.net, and many others. You can get redirected to these domains after clicking on the malicious ad, link or by mistyping the URL address of the preferred domain. However, most frequently You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 scam starts manifesting itself when an adware program gets installed to the system. This survey scam alert says:
Congratulations!
You've been randomly selected to test the new iPhone 9 (coming in 2018).
Additional testers wanted still: 19It's not a joke. You are invited to try out brand new iPhone 9 before it is distributed to the public. We're looking for another (random number) users for feedback to make this phone the best iPhone yet.
If you want to join our private test group, you have to answer the four questions below.
As a “Thank you” gift, we will send an iPhone X 128 GB completely free! Stocks are limited so answer quickly, act NOW!
The You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 pop-up mimics the design of the official Apple alerts. It includes Apple logo, which is not genuine and shows off the picture of the new iPhone 9 model, which is yet to come. The survey pretends-to-be generated by Apple Reward Center. This rogue iPhone test scam is based on many social engineering strategies to make it look reliable and persuasive.
In general, Internet users have to be aware of the fact that Apple is not giving away their products for free. Offers for $1 are also fake. Hoax alerts like You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 malware are distributed for the sole purpose – to trick gullible users into revealing their personal information. This alert requires to answer the following questions:
- Do you currently own any Apple products?
- Which of these features would you most like to have on iPhone 9?
- Which of these messages methods do you prefer?
- Do you have a valid shipping address to receive your Apple product?
After answering these questions, the potential victim will receive a confirmation window asking to indicate the following information:
- Full name;
- Address;
- Email address;
- Telephone number.
Despite the fact that this alter looks legitimate, we highly recommend removing You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 pop-up from Chrome or any other web browser. Although the estimated iPhone 9 reveal date is September 11, 2018,[2] Apple is not looking for additional testers, at least not this way. No iPhone and no iPhone X 128 GB are standing behind this message.
By participating in a survey, you expose yourself to a risk of privacy violation leading to identity theft. In previous survey scam practice, thousands of people were tricked into subscribing unwanted services for a considerable monthly fee, so the next month after filling in the answers on the You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 you may notice an increased telephone bill.
You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 is a scam or hoax, which tricks inexperienced users into believing that they will get a chance to use iPhone 9 before it's even released. However, that's just a trick to extort their personal data.
According to Dieviren.de [3]experts, scams like this may also collect personal data with an intention to sell it on the black market. In this case scenario, hackers and scammers may start attacking your PC with using other social engineering strategies.
Those who have already been “selected” to test iPhone 9 should not fall for the trick. If this rogue alert locked the screen of your web browser, force quit it via Task Manager and then start You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 removal. For this purpose, you can either use FortectIntego to run a full malware scan or investigate the list of installed apps manually and delete all suspicious entries by yourself.
Careless installation of freeware might cause unusual web browser's behavior
Adware and other potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) are relatively harmless. However, the content that they display can cause many problems, including data leakage or even identity theft.
Apart from generating misleading pop-up ads, survey prompts or fake software updates, ad-supported apps can track PC user's web browsing activities and generate a report to its developers and third-party affiliates. Therefore, the immediate PUP removal is needed.
The need to fix the system won't occur if Internet users start monitoring the installation of freeware. Unwanted programs usually spread as additional freeware components that are supposed to improve web browsing experience. However, there's a catch. Such components are not disclosed when selecting Quick or Basic installation.
If you want to have a chance to reject installation of unwanted components, make sure to opt for Advanced or Custom setup and unmark ticks saying that you agree to install browser add-ons or extensions.
Learn how to remove “You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9” fake alerts from Safari and other browsers
You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 virus indicates an adware infection. It means that the phony iPhone 9 offer will be generated by default as long as the adware won't be deleted.
To remove You've Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 adware from Chrome, Safari, and other browsers you should run a deep system scan with a professional anti-malware. This removal method is recommended to ensure complete system cleanup from malicious or potentially dangerous programs and files.
Those who prefer manual PUP removal can follow the instructions submitted by the 2-Spyware team. Make sure to follow each step carefully and repeat the exact sequence.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of You’ve Been Selected To Test iPhone 9. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
To uninstall ad-supported free app, which is responsible for the implementation of rogue survey scam, you should perform these steps:
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)
To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
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 on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (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 Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
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.
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 unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
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, as well as Cached Web Content and press 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
After successful removal of PUP, the next step is the restoration of web browser's settings. Here's what you have to do:
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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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 unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of You’ve Been Selected To Test iPhone 9 registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting adware
Do not let government spy on you
The government has many issues in regards to tracking users' data and spying on citizens, so you should take this into consideration and learn more about shady information gathering practices. Avoid any unwanted government tracking or spying by going totally anonymous on the internet.
You can choose a different location when you go online and access any material you want without particular content restrictions. You can easily enjoy internet connection without any risks of being hacked by using Private Internet Access VPN.
Control the information that can be accessed by government any other unwanted party and surf online without being spied on. Even if you are not involved in illegal activities or trust your selection of services, platforms, be suspicious for your own security and take precautionary measures by using the VPN service.
Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack
Computer users can suffer from data losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Ransomware can encrypt and hold files hostage, while unforeseen power cuts might cause a loss of important documents. If you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work. It is also equally important to update backups on a regular basis so that the newest information remains intact – you can set this process to be performed automatically.
When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware strikes out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the data restoration process.
- ^ Felicity Hannah. Fraudulent scams expected to rocket in 2018. Independent. Daily news site.
- ^ Josh Levenson. iPhone 9: All you need to know about the next iPhone (2018). Trusted Reviews. Reviews of multiple brands.
- ^ Dieviren. Dieviren. Virus and Spyware news.