Annual Visitor Survey Pop-Ups

Security researchers have received numerous reports of an 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups which interrupt computer users' activities and seriously interfere with the affected computer. The 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups may affect most Web browsers on the Windows operating system; the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups have been observed on Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. The 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups claim that the computer user was chosen for a survey being conducted anonymously. According to the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups, the computer user has the opportunity to gain access to three special offers, needing only to complete one survey. However, everything in the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups is fake, designed to trick inexperienced computer users into disclosing privileged information and being exposed to marketing material.

The Well-Known Tactic Linked to the 'Annual Visitor Survey' Pop-Ups

When computer users click on the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups, they are taken to a survey that asks for the computer user's phone number. With this information, marketers will charge $5 USD to the victim's phone. Essentially, computer users end up paying five dollars for the 'benefit' of fulfilling out a survey. Even worse, none of the exclusive offers mentioned in the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups' text is real. This is all just a social engineering tactic which goal is to generate earnings in benefit of its designers.

Where the 'Annual Visitor Survey' Pop-Ups Comes From

The 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups may appear on a computer as a consequence of installing a Potentially Unwanted Program. PUPs associated with the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups may be bundled with low quality freeware distributed on questionable platforms. Common types of freeware that may be associated with these types of PUPs include media players, PDF creators and download managers. When these programs are installed, computer users may opt out of installing a Web browser toolbar, although they may overlook this option. Once the Web browser extension of the toolbar is installed, it causes erratic behavior on the victim's Web browser, which may include the 'Annual Visitor Survey' pop-ups and other types of intrusive marketing material and behavior, such as Web browser redirects and other types of suspicious pop-up messages and advertisements.