Avoid being scammed by rewardsawesome.com

What is rewardsawesome[.]com?

rewardsawesome[.]com is a rogue website designed to promote untrusted/malicious pages and/or present visitors with dubious content. The site has been observed promoting various fake prize-oriented scams.

During research, rewardsawesome[.]com has promoted "Congratulations Amazon shopper!", "Congratulations Samsung user!", "Dear YouTube user, Congratulations!", "Congratulations Walgreens shopper!" and "Congratulations Walmart shopper!" scams.

Most users enter rewardsawesome[.]com via redirects generated by intrusive advertisements and/or Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs) already infiltrated into the system. Note that these apps do not need express user consent to be installed onto devices.

PUAs can force-open rogue, sale-based, untrusted, deceptive/scam and malicious sites, however, these applications have various other dangerous capabilities. They can deliver intrusive ad campaigns.

I.e., they deploy various harmful ads (e.g. pop-ups, surveys, banners, coupons and so on), which diminish the browsing experience by limiting browsing speed and web page visibility. Intrusive advertisements can be triggered (by clicking them) to redirect to various dangerous websites and can even stealthily download/install unwanted content (e.g. PUAs).

Other types of unwanted applications can modify browsers and restrict/deny access to settings to promote fake search engines. Regardless of their specific type, many PUAs can track and record data including browsing activity (URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries typed, etc.) and personal information (IP addresses, geolocations and other details).

This private data is then likely to be shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) intent on misusing it for profit. To summarize, the presence of PUAs on devices can cause browser and system infiltration/infections, lead to serious privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft.

To protect device integrity and user safety, you are advised to remove all suspicious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins immediately upon detection.

Threat Summary:

Name	rewardsawesome.com ads
Threat Type	Push notifications ads, Unwanted ads, Pop-up ads.
Detection Names	Fortinet (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	91.224.58.27
Symptoms	Seeing advertisements not originating from the sites you are browsing. Intrusive pop-up ads. Decreased internet browsing speed.
Distribution Methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications (adware).
Damage	Decreased computer performance, browser tracking - privacy issues, possible additional 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.

PUAs often seem legitimate and tempt users into downloading/installing with offers of "useful" functions such as quick access to various web pages, services, online tools, etc.

These features rarely work as promised and, in most cases, are nonoperational. The only purpose of these unwanted applications is to generate revenue for the designers. Rather than delivering any real value, PUAs cause redirects, run intrusive ad campaigns, hijack browsers and collect sensitive data.

How did adware install on my computer?

PUAs mostly infiltrate devices via the download/install set-ups of other software. "Bundling" is the term used to define this deceptive marketing method of pre-packing regular content with unwanted or malicious programs.

Rushing download and installation processes (e.g. ignoring terms, using pre-set options, etc.) increases the risk of unintentionally allowing bundled apps onto the system. Certain PUAs have "official" download web pages. Intrusive ads also proliferate these applications. When clicked, they can execute scripts to download/install PUAs without users' permission.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

You are advised to research all software, prior to download/installation and/or purchase. All downloads should be performed from official and verified download channels. Free file-hosting sites, P2P sharing networks (BitTorrent, Gnutella, eMule, etc.) and other third party downloaders are untrusted and can offer likewise suspicious content.

When downloading/installing, read the terms, study all available options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opt-out of additional apps, tools, features and so on. Intrusive advertisements tend to seem normal and innocuous, however, they can redirect to highly dubious websites (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating and others).

If you encounter these ads/redirects, check the system and remove all dubious applications and/or browser extensions/plug-ins. If your computer is already infected with rogue applications, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

Appearance of rewardsawesome[.]com website promoting "Congratulations Amazon shopper!" scam:

Appearance of rewardsawesome[.]com website promoting "Congratulations Samsung user!" scam:

Appearance of rewardsawesome[.]com website promoting "Dear YouTube user, Congratulations!" scam:

Appearance of rewardsawesome[.]com website promoting "Congratulations Walgreens shopper!" scam:

Appearance of rewardsawesome[.]com website promoting "Congratulations Walmart shopper!" scam:

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 rewardsawesome[.]com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall adware applications using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue plug-ins from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove adware-type extensions from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove malicious extensions from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Adware removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window, look for any potentially unwanted applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted application that causes rewardsawesome[.]com redirects, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Remove adware from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the rewardsawesome.com ads, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and remove them.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the rewardsawesome.com ads, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with rewardsawesome.com ads removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....

In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the rewardsawesome.com ads, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.

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