Do not trust scams promoted by Chickimeet websites

What are the Chickimeet sites?

Chickimeet is a group of deceptive websites promoting a variety of online schemes. One of the scams run on these pages is "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor", a phishing scam designed to steal users' personal information and trick them into making monetary transactions for deceptive reasons.

Typically, users access these sites via redirects caused by intrusive ads or Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs) already installed on the system.

Scams like "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" state that users can win, or have won, a prize. The promised reward is bogus. To receive it, users are asked to perform certain actions. For example, they may be asked to provide personal information: names, addresses, emails, banking account and/or credit card details, etc.

Alternatively, they are encouraged to pay shipping, registration, subscription and similar fees to receive the nonexistent prize. Therefore, trusting deceptive/scam web pages can lead to financial loss and serious privacy issues.

As well as causing unwanted redirects (e.g. to deceptive/scam, untrusted, rogue, compromised and malicious websites), these unwanted applications have additional dangerous capabilities. They can deliver intrusive advertisement campaigns. I.e., enable the placement of pop-ups, banners, surveys, coupons and other ads on any site.

They limit browsing speed and web page visibility. Furthermore, once clicked, these ads redirect to similarly harmful sites and can even execute scripts designed to stealthily download/install rogue software (e.g. PUAs). Other these apps can hijack browsers by altering and restricting access to their settings - this, to promote fake search engines.

These bogus search engines are usually unable to generate unique results, and so redirect to Google, Yahoo, Bing and other legitimate search engines. Most PUAs can track data as well. They record users' browsing habits (URLs visited, search queries typed, etc.) and gather personal information (IP addresses, geolocations and other details).

The data is shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) intent on misusing it for financial gain. In summary, the presence of PUAs on systems can result in various infiltration and infections, lead to financial loss, serious privacy issues and even identity theft.

To ensure device and user safety, remove all suspect applications and browser extensions/plug-ins without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	Chickimeet pop-up
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Mac malware, Mac virus.
Fake Claim	Some variants claim that users can win a prize.
Related Domains	chickimeet1[.]live; chickimeet4[.]live; chickimeet6[.]live; chickimeet20[.]live
Detection Names (chickimeet4[.]live)	Fortinet (Spam), Spamhaus (Spam), Full List (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (chickimeet4[.]live)	193.35.48.28
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.

Stompriln, Roanbours and Letsswin are some examples of website groups similar to Chickimeet. Online scams use social engineering and scare tactics to trick users into performing specific actions.

For example, these schemes can encourage users into revealing personal information, making monetary transactions, calling fake and expensive service/support lines, downloading/installing or purchasing untrusted or malicious software, and so on.

Whatever claims these deceptive/scam web pages make, they have just one purpose: to generate profit for the scammers/cyber criminals behind them. Therefore, always exercise caution when browsing.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

PUAs are spread through download/installation set-ups of other products. "Bundling" is the term used to describe this deceptive marketing technique of pre-packing normal software with unwanted or malicious additions.

By rushing through download/installation processes (e.g. skipping steps and sections, using pre-set options, etc.), many users risk inadvertent installation of bundled content onto their devices. Certain PUAs have "official" download web pages. Intrusive ads can infiltrate these apps into systems as well.

Once clicked, they can execute scripts to download/install PUAs, without users' consent.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

All products should be researched prior to download/installation or purchase. Use only official and verified download sources, as opposed to unofficial and free file-hosting sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks or other third party downloaders.

When downloading/installing, you are advised to read the terms, explore all available options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opt-out of supplementary apps, tools, features and other additions. Intrusive ads may seem legitimate and innocuous, however, they can redirect to highly dubious websites (e.g. pornography, gambling, adult-dating, etc.).

If you encounter these advertisements/redirects, inspect the system and immediately eliminate all suspicious 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 of a Chickimeet website promoting the "Dear Safari User, You Are Today's Lucky Visitor" scam (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 Chickimeet 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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