Avoid being scammed by seekanvdoo websites

What is Seekanvdoo?

Seekanvdoo is a group of scam websites, designed to display deceptive, dubious content and/or generate redirects to other scam pages. These sites have been observed promoting "You Are Today's Lucky Visitor", "You've Made The 5-billionth Search" and "Latest version of Adobe Flash Player" scams.

It is also likely that other untrusted or malicious websites can be entered through Seekanvdoo. These web pages are rarely accessed intentionally - users are redirected to them by intrusive advertisements or Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs) already installed onto the system.

"You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" and "You've Made The 5-billionth Search" schemes use the prize/reward scam model.

This type claims that users have won (or can win) something, however, rather than receiving any prize, users are redirected elsewhere, asked to reveal their personal information (e.g. communication and social account log-in credentials, banking account and credit car details, etc.), make monetary transactions under false pretences (e.g. fake shipping fees or other payments to receive the prize) and so on.

"Latest version of Adobe Flash Player" employs the "essential piece of software is outdated/missing" model. It claims that Flash Player is outdated and offers bogus updates. Note that fake updaters are often used to proliferate browser hijackers, adware and other Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs).

They can even infect systems with ransomware, trojans and other malware. Regardless of their claims, scam websites are dangerous - trusting them can lead to serious issues.

As well as force-opening deceptive/scam, untrusted/rogue, compromised and malicious sites, PUAs have other capabilities. They can deliver intrusive ads (pop-ups, banners, surveys, etc.), which diminish the browsing experience by overlaying web page content.

Additionally, once clicked, these advertisements redirect to dubious/harmful websites and can even stealthily download/install unwanted content (e.g. PUAs). Unwanted apps can modify browsers and limit/deny access to their settings. Furthermore, most PUAs track data.

They can monitor browsing activity (browsing and search engine histories) and collect users' personal information (IP addresses, geolocation and personally-identifiable details). This sensitive data is often shared with third parties, (potentially, cyber criminals) intent on misusing it for profit.

Therefore, PUAs can cause various infiltration and infections and lead to serious privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	seekanvdoo pop-up
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Mac malware, Mac virus.
Related Domains	seekanvdoo7[.[live; seekanvdoo31[.]live; seekanvdoo50[.]live
Detection Names (seekanvdoo50[.]live)	Kaspersky (Malware), G-Data (Phishing), Fortinet (Spam), Spamhaus (Spam), Full List (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Getprizes, Stydbui, Firdayfun and Badmonday are some examples of other deceptive, scam website families. Using social engineering and scare tactics, they attempt to trick visitors into performing specific actions.

For example, users are encouraged to download/install or purchase nonoperational, untrusted or malicious software, making monetary transactions, calling expensive and fake support/service lines, revealing their personal information, and so on. Therefore, exercise caution when browsing.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

PUAs proliferate via the download/installation set-ups of other products. This deceptive marketing technique of packing regular software with unwanted or malicious additions is termed "bundling". Rushing download and installation processes (e.g. skipping steps and sections, using presets, etc.) increases the risk of inadvertently allowing bundled content onto systems.

Some PUAs have "official" promotional pages from which they can be dowloaded. When clicked, intrusive advertisements can execute scripts designed to download/install PUAs without users' consent.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Research all products before download/installation or purchase. Use only official and verified download sources, as opposed to free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks or other third party downloaders. Software should be activated with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers.

Download and installation processes should be approached with care. Read the terms, explore all possible options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opt-out of supplementary apps, tools, features, etc. Intrusive ads typically seem normal and harmless, yet once clicked, they can redirect to dubious web pages (e.g. pornography, adult-dating, gambling and others).

If you experience these ads/redirects, check the system and immediately remove all suspect applications and browser extensions/plug-ins. If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.

Appearance variant of Seekanvdoo scam - "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" (GIF):

Appearance variant of Seekanvdoo scam - "You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" (GIF):

Appearance variant of Seekanvdoo scam "You've Made The 5-billionth Search" (GIF):

Appearance variant of Seekanvdoo scam "Latest version of Adobe Flash Player" (GIF):

Instant automatic Mac 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 Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac 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. Limited seven 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 seekanvdoo pop-up?
• 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 macOS.

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 macOS) - 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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