What is “Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam? And how does it work?
“Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam is a new deceiving alert that aims to trick users into believing that they’ve won a free “Galaxy S9” gadget and for users to get this prize, they supposedly have to complete an anonymous survey and that they only have “2:44” minutes to do so. However, no matter how promising this alert may be, the fact remains that it is nothing but a scam and that you must not participate in that survey as you will only be forced into providing your sensitive information. When you encounter this scam, you will see the following message on your browser:
“Dear Chrome user, congratulations!
We want to thank you for being a loyal Chrome user! Your IP address has been randomly selected to receive 4
FREE Galaxy S9.
From time to time we select a handful of Chrome users to give them the opportunity to receive valuable gifts from
our partners and sponsors. This is our way of thanking you for choosing Chrome as your preferred service.
Today is your lucky day! You are one of the 10 randomly selected users who will receive a new Galaxy S9.
To receive your gift, you simply have to complete our short and anonymous survey. But hurry! There are only a
few gifts available today!
Congratulations! Select your gift:
Due to limited availability, your gift will be reserved for the next 2:44 minutes.
If you do not claim the gift during this bme @t will be given to the next happy Chrome user.
Galaxy S9 Claim Now
Your price: $1.00 (shipping costs)
Available: 2”
If you encounter this scam, you have to close the tab that’s displaying it right away. It is often hosted on malicious domains and you can get redirected into it when you click on some ads online. However, if you keep getting redirected to the site that displays this scam, then this only means that there is some ad-supported program or adware installed in your computer that’s causing these redirects. Thus, no matter how many times you close the site that’s hosting this scam, you could still encounter it unless you get down to its root cause which is the adware in your system.
How does the “Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam circulate the web?
As mentioned, this scam circulates the web using ads and malicious domains. It also spreads using adware programs that are included in software bundles. Software bundles are found on free sharing sites so if you recently installed one, then it might be the reason why you’re getting the “Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam. To prevent this from happening in the future, you must always opt for the Advanced or Custom setup when installing free software packages instead of opting for the quick setup.
Refer to the given instructions below to remove the “Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam from your browser as well as the adware program that’s causing it.
Step_1: Close the tab or the browser displaying the “Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam. However, if your browser is forced to go into full-screen mode because of the fake alert, tap F11 on your keyboard to exit full-screen mode.
Step_2: After that, try to close the browser manually. If you find it hard to do so, close the browser through the Task Manager.
Step_3: Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to launch the Task Manager.
Step_4: After opening the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the affected browser’s process and end it by clicking End Task or End Process.
Step_5: Close the Task Manager and reset all the affected browsers to default.
Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
- After that, click on Settings.
- Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
- After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
- Now restart Google Chrome.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Mozilla Firefox and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
- In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
- Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
- Select Options and then move to the General menu.
- Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.
Internet Explorer
- Launch Internet Explorer.
- Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
- Then click Internet Options.
- After that, go to the Advanced tab.
- From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
- Now click OK to save the changes made.
- Restart your computer.
Step_6: Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and then type in “appwiz.cpl” to open Programs and Features in Control Panel.
Step_7: From there, look for the adware program or any unfamiliar program that could be related to the “Dear Chrome User, Congratulations!” scam under the list of installed programs and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.
Step_8: Close the Control Panel and tap the Win + E keys to open File Explorer.
Step_9: Navigate to the following directories and look for the adware installer like the software bundle it came with as well as other suspicious files and delete them.
- %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
- %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
- %TEMP%
Step_10: 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 hosts file using Notepad.
- Delete all the entries that contain Search.watchtvnow.co.
- After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.
Step_11: Now you have to flush the DNS cache of your computer. To do so, right-click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Step_12: Close the File Explorer and empty your Recycle Bin.
Congratulations, you have just removed Dear Chrome User, Congratulations! Scam in Windows 10 all by yourself. If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit fixmypcfree.com daily.
Now that’s how you remove Dear Chrome User, Congratulations! Scam in Windows 10 on a computer. On the other hand, if your computer is going through some system-related issues that have to get fixed, there is a one-click solution known as Restoro you could check out to resolve them.
This program is a useful tool that could repair corrupted registries and optimize your PC’s overall performance. Aside from that, it also cleans out your computer for any junk or corrupted files that help you eliminate any unwanted files from your system. This is basically a solution that’s within your grasp with just a click. It’s easy to use as it is user-friendly. For a complete set of instructions in downloading and using it, refer to the steps below
Perform a full system scan using Restoro. To do so, follow the instructions below.
