'National Consumer Center' Pop-Ups
The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups are connected to known online tactics. According to complaints, the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may claim that the computer user has won a free iPhone or some other similar costly prize. The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may include the legend 'National Consumer Center' in the upper left corner, with an official looking font, and advertisements on the right. These pop-ups are among the most common online tactics and may be used to intrude on the computer user's privacy. The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may be caused by adware components installed on the affected Web browser. However, the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups also may be displayed on websites with poorly regulated advertisement content. In either case, there is no truth to any of the claims contained in the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups; computer users should avoid interacting with the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups and instead find out the cause and remove it entirely.
What may Cause the 'National Consumer Center' Pop-Ups on a Web Browser
There are two possible reasons why the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups are appearing on a Web browser:
- The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may appear because a particular website has a poorly regulated advertisement content. This means that shady advertisements like the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups will be included in the website's regular advertisement rotation, which could place computer users at risk for intrusions or additional unwanted components.
- The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may appear on Web browsers affected by adware, appearing unexpectedly when the Web browser is used, interrupting the computer users' normal activity. If your case of the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups is being caused by an adware component or a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) installed on your computer, you should uninstall this component completely to stop the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups from continuing to appear.
It is relatively simple to know which of the two above cases is occurring on a computer. If the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups only appear when visiting a particular website, domain, or website, then the problem may be tied to that website and its advertising content. However, if the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups appear on your Web browser regardless of the website being viewed, then this indicates that an unwanted component has been installed on your computer. These components may be designed to expose computer users to advertising content repeatedly, which may include the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups and other unwanted pop-up advertisements. They can be removed with the help of a reliable security program that is fully up-to-date.
The misleading messages that this scam displays look trustworthy as they include the legend "National Consumer Center" in the top left corner, advertisements on the right, as well as some official information about the product that is offered as a reward. "National Consumer Center" is closely related to some other well-known Internet scams, like the Walmart scam and the Amazon Gift Card scam. Reports show that the fraudulent messages usually pop up while users are surfing the Internet, but they could also take the form of ads appearing in a new tab and redirecting potential victims to a page called hxxp://electronicpromotionscenter.com/, or to similar pages containing corrupted content. Regardless of the type of messages, the scam's tactic is always the same - users are asked to participate in an online survey by answering some simple questions, like "What is your age?", "Who created Facebook?", "Do you shop on Amazon?", and so on; then, those who proceed are required to fill out certain personal details into a provided form. "National Consumer Center" asks for data like phone numbers, email addresses, credit card numbers, and physical addresses, all with the explanation that this data is needed for the delivery of the rewards.
In exchange for their participation, users are promised expensive smartphones, other costly prizes, or gift cards. Some victims report they have been initially offered the latest iPhone, but later they were told they could win a $100 Visa Gift Card if they spend a certain amount of money on some useless products or services. The conditions for the "giveaways" are explained in a tiny text at the bottom of the screen so that users are very likely to skip it. Often, the completion of the offer requires entering a paid subscription program for various goods and services, and users find themselves automatically enrolled in those programs after submitting their credit card details. Opting out afterward is typically complicated, while the customer's credit card is being billed with monthly or weekly payments. The scammers' websites are also typically filled with fake ratings and comments claiming that the surveys have been really easy and that the promised prizes have been received.
The Problem with the 'National Consumer Center' Pop-Ups and Similar Content
The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may pose certain risks to computer users. This is because the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may be connected to several online hoaxes. The following are some of the characteristics of common tactics that may be associated with the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups:
- Some of the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may try to convince you that you have won a prize or lottery. This is a trick to convince computer users to fill out a survey or input information.
- When computer users respond to the 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups by inputting their information, such as their email information, this can allow third parties or shady advertisers to include them on spam email lists, putting them at a higher risk for numerous threat infections.
- The 'National Consumer Center' pop-ups may try to convince computer users to download unwanted components, which may be PUPs or adware themselves. This may be done by advertising a supposed software update or a free coupon or offer only available if the computer user clicks on a link or image.
Unfortunately, "National Consumer Center" is a fake organization, and none of the promised prizes exists as the only goal of these surveys is to harvest user data that is then sold to third parties. Without a doubt, providing the required data to the owners of the "National Consumer Center" scam hides enormous risks as, once the crooks have a user's email address and bank details, it is a matter of time for the victim to start experiencing the negative consequences. In extreme cases, "National Consumer Center" pop-ups can lead to identity theft, money loss, and open the path for additional malware threats to enter the affected computer. Apart from the obvious symptom of the occurring pop-ups and redirects to fake survey websites, more signs of the infection can include a deteriorated browsing experience, freezing web browsers, and a constant flow of suspicious ads and junk email messages.
There are two possible explanations for the appearance of the ‘National Consumer Center" pop-ups on a computer. The first possibility is that the scam appears only when a user visits particular websites or domains on the Internet. Such websites have poorly regulated advertisement content policies, and so the dangerous pop-ups get included in the regular ads rotation. Otherwise, the scam messages pop up because the user's computer has been infected with an adware threat that is controlling the browser. In that case, the user will see the annoying pop-ups all the time and regardless of which pages he or she visits. If you suspect that some adware has sneaked into your computer, cybersecurity experts advise using a reputable anti-malware program to scan your PC and remove any detected malware threats, including the particular one that is causing the ‘National Consumer Center" pop-ups.
Adware threats usually spread through a method called "bundling" - attackers group several different programs into one package and represent it as one single application which is generally offered as freeware. One way to avoid the installation of such PUPs on your computer is to select the "Custom" or "Advanced" installation option whenever you install a program. Then, check carefully if any undesirable tools are included in the package.