What is QuickCouponFinder? And how does it function?

QuickCouponFinder is a program that functions a browser extension. It claims to provide users with coupons and deals from shopping sites. As useful as it may seem, it is actually developed by Mindspark Interactive Network – a developer known to spawn tons of browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs which is why it isn’t surprising that security experts also categorize QuickCouponFinder as a browser hijacker and a PUP.
Once installed, QuickCouponFinder will modify the settings of your browser including the default homepage, search provider and new tab page. As a result, you won’t have much choice but to use this browser hijacker as you browse the web. If you think that this browser is not really harmful, then you really don’t know what it’s capable of. In fact, as soon as it gets installed, it will gather your browsing information that might include personal ones. Usually, browser hijackers like QuickCouponFinder collect the following data:

• Your name
• Your address
• Email address
• Number of your page views
• What links you clicked
• Telephone number
• Username and password
• Browser type
• Preferred language
• Other browser-related data
• Keyword query, search query text and search results you clicked on
• Adverts clicked and cookie data
• Your login times

Not only that, aside from gathering data, it may also share the collected data to its affiliated third party sites as stated on its Privacy Policy:
“We may receive information from third-parties, including our authorized service providers, IAC affiliates, advertising companies, and ad networks. These third parties may display ads via the MS Services.These companies may use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to collect information about users who view or interact with these advertisements.”
As you can see, QuickCouponFinder is not a harmless program and may even cause some serious security and privacy issues which you can avoid by uninstalling this browser hijacker as soon as you can.
How is QuickCouponFinder distributed over the web?
Developers of QuickCouponFinder uses the software bundling technique in distributing this browser hijacker. It is added as one of the optional components in a software bundle along with other unwanted programs that can be found on free sharing sites. So if you install programs using this kind package, it’s best that you use the Custom or Advanced setup instead of the quick one to get rid of any extra programs that might have been added in the package.
To uninstall QuickCouponFinder, follow the steps laid out below.
Step 1: The first thing you need to do to delete QuickCouponFinder is to open the Control Panel. To do so, tap the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.

Step 2: Look for any suspicious program that is affiliated with QuickCouponFinder and then Uninstall it.

Step 3: Close all the browsers infected with QuickCouponFinder. If you’re having a hard time closing them, you can close them using the Task Manager just tap on Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
Step 4: After you open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the infected browser’s process and end it.
Step 5: Edit your Hosts File

• Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
• Go to System32/drivers/etc.
• Open the host’s file using Notepad.
• Delete all the entries containing QuickCouponFinder.
• After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Reset all your browsers to default to their default state.
Google Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
2. Look for QuickCouponFinder or any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
3. Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
4. Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
5. Select “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
6. Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the browser and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
2. In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
3. Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
4. Select Options and then move to the General menu.
5. Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2. Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
3. Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
4. Click OK to save the changes.

Step 7: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 8: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to browser hijacker such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

• %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
• %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
• %TEMP%

Step 9: Close the File Explorer.
Step 10: Empty the Recycle Bin.
Follow the advanced instructions below to ensure the removal of QuickCouponFinder as well as all the file residues it left behind using a trusted program named [product-name].
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
2. After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

3. To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
4. Windows will now load the SafeMode with Networking.
5. Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

6. If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
7. Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
8. After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
9. Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.

10. After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now”button.