Loanpuma.com

By Domesticus in Browser Hijackers

Loanpuma.com Image

LoanPuma.com is a bogus search engine that features a cartoon feline in its logo that should be familiar to most malware analysts. This same cartoon puma appears in the logos of clones of LoanPuma.com such as Insurancepuma.com and CreditPuma.com. It wears different outfits in different versions of this fake search engine, wearing a suit and carrying a bright red sign reading 'LOAN'. Like most versions of LoanPuma.com, the website's name is displayed as 'Super Search' with an arrow on the left side pointing to the search box that says 'Best'. However, it seems that, as of the writing of this article, the LoanPuma.com scam is not fully operational. While these fake search engines are set up to display advertisements and return spam whenever the computer user enters a search into their search box, LoanPuma.com appears to contain no advertisements and its search box is not implemented. However, the dangers associated with LoanPuma.com are still relevant since, like with most bogus search engines, the real danger of LoanPuma.com is not in the web page itself but in the browser redirectors that it uses in other to force visitors to return to LoanPuma.com repeatedly. If you find that your computer system is forcing you to visit LoanPuma.com, this is a clear indication that your PC has been infected with a harmful malware.

How Malware Associated with LoanPuma.com Takes Over Your Web Browser

ESG security researchers indicate that most redirects to LoanPuma.com are caused by a JavaScript browser hijacker rather than by a systemic Trojan infection, as is the case with most bogus search engines. While this makes LoanPuma.com-related malware easier to remove (by simply disabling JavaScript and using a reliable anti-malware tool to scan the infected computer system), it also gives malware associated with LoanPuma.com the ability to attack computers and devices not using the Windows operating system. This is a huge advantage for the criminals behind this malware infection since, traditionally, non-Windows operating systems always been considered safe from malware. However, many iPad users have already reported browser redirects to the LoanPuma.com website, as well as to other malicious websites associated with this bogus search engine. The symptoms of an attack are remarkably similar to a Google Redirect Virus infection. Most of the time, the victim's search results on reliable search engines will be altered so that the links direct the infected web browser to LoanPuma.com instead of to the website corresponding to the original link.

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