Bugger - scam ED survey warning and request for advice

[intexasatthe moment]

Just to warn others who are as silly as me .

I was happily browsing ED frorum and a request to complete a survey popped up .I wouldn't normally partake but as it was EDF I unthinkingly completed it .

Now my browser is showing the EDF with all adverts removed and prppered with green icons which ask for more surveys to be completed .

Anyone know how I can remove this bug ?

[Bluerevolution]

try www.malwarebytes.org Free anti malware

[Loz]

Yep, +1 for MalwareBytes.

And until it is clear do NOT access anything like banking.

[intexasatthe moment]

Aargh - I've downloaded and run malwarebytes and restarted and all . and it's still there .

Any suggestions on my next step ?

[Loz]

1) Have you done a full scan with your antivirus? (and which have you got?)

2) If that doesn't work, try CCleaner.

[d.b]

To be honest, doesn't sound as if you have malware.

If you are seeing green icons where the ads used to be, you are just getting fed survey links instead of ads. I would guess the ad distributor has now decided you are the kind of user that fills in surveys so is feeding you them instead of real ads. It may just be able to be fixed by clearing your cache and all cookies.

Do you get the survey links anywhere else? on any other websites or on your PC?

[Loz]

... except that ads on the EDF are served directly from the site, not an generic ad company.

[d.b]

Loz Wrote:

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> ... except that ads on the EDF are served directly

> from the site, not an generic ad company.

Ok didn't realise that - assumed that since Adblock on firefox works for them they are provided by a known ad server.

But still relevant question as to whether you're seeing the links on any other site or any other bit of your PC.

[intexasatthe moment]

Hi thanks everyone it seems to be ok now .

The banner ads were all missing . Odd nouns in posts appeared in blue like a link and had a green icon pointing at them . Moving the mouse over them meant an invitation for a survey came up .

Well that's how I remember it - odd how little one retains of details once the event has passed .

The problem was only on the EDF site ,other pages ,email etc were unaffected .

I've got MacAfee .

Thank you all for such speedy responses .

[Loz]

What fixed it ITATM? It's good to scan with everything you have, just to ensure there isn't anything left lurking. These things generally don't go away by themselves.

[KidHardy]

I would try a system restore myself before worrying about anti-virus etc

[intexasatthe moment]

Loz - I don't know what fixed it ,bit worried that it's really gone !

It was still there after I'd scanned with Malwarebytes but then about 30 mins later it had gone . Maybe Macfee fixed it in the end ? I'm afraid it's mystery to me .

[Otta]

I had similar a while ago (firefox) and ended up resetting firefox which got rid.

[Sue]

Has the original survey link you clicked on now been removed from the EDF site?

[intexasatthe moment]

Sue I don't understand these things but I think the survey link was somehow generated by something that had nothinh to do with the EDF ,must have been some sort of chameleon type bug that detected what site I was on and then pretended to be connected to it ????

But anyway it all seems to have gone now .

God I don't understand these things !

[Loz]

KidHardy Wrote:

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> I would try a system restore myself before

> worrying about anti-virus etc

Yep, that wouldn't be a bad idea either.