Promos4you.net Giveaway Scam - How to remove

Promos4you.net promises a free phone or another reward. It uses that promise to collect your personal data. Then it leads you to a subscription scam. If you find yourself on Promos4you.net, just close it. It’s not dangerous unless you provide it with your real information.

About Promos4you.net:

Type of threat	Scam.
How Promos4you.net spreads	Malicious redirects from other websites, pop-up ads.
Results of the scam	Monthly charges of around $50, stolen personal information.
How to deal with Promos4you.net	Find and delete adware and malicious files (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others), don’t allow money to be charged, report the phishing scam.

From a fake giveaway to a phishing scam

Malicious redirects and fake surveys

When I was browsing the web today, I came across a malicious redirect. That’s when a benign website (usually an old, small site) is infected with malicious code that causes it to load malicious sites randomly. Malicious actors go around infecting vulnerable websites to get people to visit their scam webpages.

First, I was taken to Bestprizesday3.live, which redirected to Teckinharmux10.live, which then showed me a very popular scam – Annual Visitor Survey. These fake surveys are designed to look like Facebook pages and if you complete them (answer three questions), they always end with you being told that you just won a phone (or another valuable prize). In this case, I was promised an iPhone 11 for $1.

Promos4you.net, a phishing site

From the Browser Feedback Survey, I was taken to Promos4you.net. Promos4you.net said that I could get my iPhone 11 for $1 if I filled the form with my name, address, Zip code, email, and password.

This reminds me, phishing is attempting to get someone to reveal their username, password, personal information, and other sensitive and valuable information. This information can then be sold and used in targeted scams.

Back to Promos4you.net, I was just told out that I’d be getting a new iPhone 11 (or iPhone XR, or iPhone XS, or Samsung Galaxy 10) for $1 and Promos4you.net’s form might be the only thing standing between me and my new device. Even if I suspect that something isn’t right, a free phone might feel like it’s worth the risk.

So I filled out the form on Promos4you.net, and then… I was taken me to a webpage that sad: “Watch now your favorite movies and TV shows free”. Um, where’s the phone?

From Promos4you.net to subscription scams

Promos4you.net ultimately took me to Pcmuzic.com, Novel247.com, Mcmediaz.com, Yomedias.com, Playkull.com, or a similar site. These are media subscription sites. They are also scams – Trustpilot.com.

The sites that Promos4you.net promotes offer a 5-day “free” trial that costs €1 and then they automatically begin a monthly subscription that costs €57,95. Although they are media subscription sites, they are in no way worth the asking price, as they offer old, B-tier movies, games, and books.

More importantly, there seemed to be no mention of my free phone anywhere. Some of the Promos4you.net-promoted sites do claim that they put you in a draw that you are entered into by signing up, but I wasn’t promised a lottery ticket, I was promised the prize.

Unfortunately, people who don’t read the fine print or who are unaware of the many scams that exist online (Goodsphone.com, ‘Win A New Phone’ sweepstake scam, Facebook iPhone XS Sweepstake scam, and others) could easily get tricked into signing up for these very expensive subscriptions. They would have their information and money stolen by scammers.

Alternative versions of Promos4you.net

Promos4you.net has a few other templates to offer. Some reference Netflix, HBO, Nintendo, and other famous companies. It’s important to remember that Promos4you.net is not affiliated with any of those companies, it’s just using their names to lure in more victims.

Other versions of Promos4you.net also ask visitors to type in their information and then lead them to subscription scams.

How to deal with scams by Promos4you.net

Check for malware

Ignore sites like Promos4you.net, Annual Survey, or any giveaways that look too good to be true. They may show up as pop-ups, emails, social media messages and posts, or even posts in your calendar.

If you constantly get redirected to unwanted sites, you might have an adware infection on your browser (if the redirects only affect one of your browsers) or your computer:

• Scan your device with an anti-malware program, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, or other programs that you trust.
• Review the programs and browser extensions that you have installed recently.
• Check the files that you have downloaded recently.

The sites that Promos4you.net shares common traffic with include other malicious sites, some of which may download malicious sites. So, it’s important to check that you didn’t download or install anything shady.

Secure your information

If you did give your real information to Promos4you.net and especially if you signed up for a subscription, you need to act quickly to protect your wallet:

• If you gave Promos4you.net your email address, review your emails (including the Spam folder) for signups and subscriptions.
• If you typed in your credit card info, keep an eye on your bank account for unauthorized charges.
• Contact your bank and ask for advice on how to protect your money and your identity.

There are some informative articles online (Mentalfloss.com, Scamwatch.goc.au) about what to do when you’ve been phished. It might be a good idea to report what happened in case your identity is misused in the future. It’s insurance.

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