Do not trust Congratulations Walgreens shopper! or other lottery scams

What is "Congratulations Walgreens shopper!"?

This lottery scam is disguised as a lottery organized by Walgreens. Like many other legitimate companies, Walgreens is not a part this or other similar scams in any way. Typically, scammers behind these websites attempt to deceive visitors into participating in a fake lottery and providing personal details so that they can misuse them to generate revenue.

We strongly recommend that you ignore this and other similar scams. Typically, these sites are opened through other dubious web pages, deceptive advertisements or potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) that are installed on browsers and/or operating systems. I.e., people do not visit websites of this kind intentionally.

According to this website, visitors have the chance to win a special prize such as an Apple Watch, iPhone, AirPods or a Walgreens $1000 gift card. To participate in the lottery, visitors must spin the wheel and then claim one of the prizes offered by clicking the "Claim Your Prize" button.

At the time of research, the button led to a website containing a "Thank You" message, however, in most cases, lottery scam websites ask people to provide various information such as name, surname, telephone number, home and email address, credit card details, and so on.

Generally, scammers behind websites of this type misuse the information to generate revenue. People who trust these websites thus risk experiencing problems relating to privacy, financial loss, becoming victims of identity theft, and so on. Therefore, lottery scams and other deceptive websites should never be trusted.

Browsers often open untrusted websites due to PUAs installed on them. Typically, these apps open dubious web pages, gather browsing data, and/or display various advertisements. They collect information relating to users' browsing habits. For example, IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited pages, geolocations, and so on.

In some cases, they record sensitive, personal details as well. Furthermore, the developers tend to sell gathered data to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it to generate revenue.

PUAs might also be designed to serve coupons, banners, surveys, pop-ups and other advertisements that lead people who click them to untrusted websites (including lottery scams). These ads sometimes execute scripts that cause download/installation of unwanted software. Therefore, all installed PUAs should be removed immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Congratulations Walgreens shopper!" virus
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud.
Fake Claim	Scammers behind this lottery scam claim that visitor have the chance to win a prize.
Related Domains	rewardsawesome[.]com
Detection Names (rewardsawesome[.]com)	Fortinet (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Appearing lottery scams, fake error messages, fake system warnings, pop-up errors, hoax computer scan.
Distribution methods	Compromised websites, rogue online pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft, possible malware infections.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Examples of other scams include "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor", "Congratulations Walmart Shopper!" and "Congratulations Dear Amazon Customer". The main purpose of these websites is to trick visitors into providing various information.

They are often disguised as official websites of various legitimate companies. People who participate in fake lotteries (and provide personal information) never win anything and simply put themselves at risk of serious problems.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

Generally, people download and install PUAs inadvertently when they intentionally or accidentally click deceptive ads, or when they download or install regular software. Download/installation set-ups often include offers to download and/or install additional, potentially unwanted apps.

These offers are usually hidden in settings such as "Custom", "Advanced", etc. This distribution method of potentially unwanted software is called "bundling". Developers use it to trick people into downloading/installing unwanted apps together with other software.

They succeed when people leave the aforementioned settings unchanged - this allows PUAs to be downloaded and installed through the set-ups of programs that people wish to download or install willingly.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Do not download or install programs/files using third party downloaders, installers, Peer-to-Peer networks such as torrent clients, eMule, dubious (unofficial) websites or other tools/sources. The safest way to download is using official websites and direct download links.

Do not complete any download or installation process without first checking "Custom", "Advanced" and other settings. Dismiss any offers to download or install unwanted software.

Do not click intrusive ads, especially if they are displayed on dubious websites (such as those relating to gambling, pornography, adult dating, and so on), since they can cause unwanted downloads/installations or open potentially malicious websites.

Remove any suspicious, unwanted extensions, add-ons or plug-ins installed on the browser, and remove any unwanted programs from the computer. If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

Text presented in the initial "Congratulations Walgreens shopper!" pop-up:

Congratulations Walgreens shopper!
We would like to thank you for your continuing support for our services - so we are offering you a chance to receive an exclusive reward

Click "OK" to claim your special prize

Good Luck!

Screenshot of the background page:

Text in this page:

Shopper Loyalty Program 2019
Congratulations!

Every Monday we select 7 lucky Walgreens shoppers to receive a special reward. Spin the wheel to claim your special prize.

Screenshot of the second pop-up:

Text in this pop-up:

Congratulations!
(1) $1000 Walgreens Gift Card is reserved for you!

To claim your prize, click the button bellow and verify your information on the next page.

Claim Your Prize
Your prize will expire in 5:09

The appearance of "Congratulations Walgreens shopper!" pop-up (GIF):

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is "Congratulations Walgreens shopper!" virus?
• How to identify a pop-up scam?
• How do pop-up scams work?
• How to remove fake pop-ups?
• How to prevent fake pop-ups?
• What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?

How to identify a pop-up scam?

Pop-up windows with various fake messages are a common type of lures cybercriminals use. They collect sensitive personal data, trick Internet users into calling fake tech support numbers, subscribe to useless online services, invest in shady cryptocurrency schemes, etc.

While in the majority of cases these pop-ups don't infect users' devices with malware, they can cause direct monetary loss or could result in identity theft.

Cybercriminals strive to create their rogue pop-up windows to look trustworthy, however, scams typically have the following characteristics:

• Spelling mistakes and non-professional images - Closely inspect the information displayed in a pop-up. Spelling mistakes and unprofessional images could be a sign of a scam.
• Sense of urgency - Countdown timer with a couple of minutes on it, asking you to enter your personal information or subscribe to some online service.
• Statements that you won something - If you haven't participated in a lottery, online competition, etc., and you see a pop-up window stating that you won.
• Computer or mobile device scan - A pop-up window that scans your device and informs of detected issues - is undoubtedly a scam; webpages cannot perform such actions.
• Exclusivity - Pop-up windows stating that only you are given secret access to a financial scheme that can quickly make you rich.

Example of a pop-up scam:

How do pop-up scams work?

Cybercriminals and deceptive marketers usually use various advertising networks, search engine poisoning techniques, and shady websites to generate traffic to their pop-ups. Users land on their online lures after clicking on fake download buttons, using a torrent website, or simply clicking on an Internet search engine result.

Based on users' location and device information, they are presented with a scam pop-up. Lures presented in such pop-ups range from get-rich-quick schemes to fake virus scans.

How to remove fake pop-ups?

In most cases, pop-up scams do not infect users' devices with malware. If you encountered a scam pop-up, simply closing it should be enough. In some cases scam, pop-ups may be hard to close; in such cases - close your Internet browser and restart it.

In extremely rare cases, you might need to reset your Internet browser. For this, use our instructions explaining how to reset Internet browser settings.

How to prevent fake pop-ups?

To prevent seeing pop-up scams, you should visit only reputable websites. Torrent, Crack, free online movie streaming, YouTube video download, and other websites of similar reputation commonly redirect Internet users to pop-up scams.

To minimize the risk of encountering pop-up scams, you should keep your Internet browsers up-to-date and use reputable anti-malware application. For this purpose, we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.

What to do if you fell for a pop-up scam?

This depends on the type of scam that you fell for. Most commonly, pop-up scams try to trick users into sending money, giving away personal information, or giving access to one's device.

• If you sent money to scammers: You should contact your financial institution and explain that you were scammed. If informed promptly, there's a chance to get your money back.
• If you gave away your personal information: You should change your passwords and enable two-factor authentication in all online services that you use. Visit Federal Trade Commission to report identity theft and get personalized recovery steps.
• If you let scammers connect to your device: You should scan your computer with reputable anti-malware (we recommend Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows) - cyber criminals could have planted trojans, keyloggers, and other malware, don't use your computer until removing possible threats.
• Help other Internet users: report Internet scams to Federal Trade Commission.

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