Forced To Complete Google Survey

[Mike.C]

Has anyone tried to google today and come across their survey, which you are forced to take part in before you reach the normal google page?

It maybe cutting my nose off to spite my face, but I hate being forced to do anything and so I will have to wait until they get rid of their rubbish :evil:

Cheers

Mike

 

[RogerP]

No. Which browser are you using?

 

[Racers]

No here, it did ask if I wanted to make google my home page.

Pete

 

[tomatwark]

Not here either and I am using their browser.

Have you been phished?

 

[JakeS]

Has anyone tried to google today and come across their survey, which you are forced to take part in before you reach the normal google page?

I don't see it when I go to Google - and it doesn't sound like my experience of Google, either, they're usually pretty unintrusive about that kind of thing (e.g. the little notice "Want to give us some feedback?" on the bottom corner of the new-look GMail). Are you sure you didn't mistype the URL or something? What kind of stuff did the survey ask?

Forcing people to take surveys is generally counter-productive, 'cause they'll just breeze through them giving default or random answers so they can get on with whatever they actually wanted to do...

 

[Mike.C]

No. Which browser are you using?

Internet Explorer

Cheers

Mike

 

[Mike.C]

[/quote]

Has anyone tried to google today and come across their survey, which you are forced to take part in before you reach the normal google page?

I don't see it when I go to Google - and it doesn't sound like my experience of Google, either, they're usually pretty unintrusive about that kind of thing (e.g. the little notice "Want to give us some feedback?" on the bottom corner of the new-look GMail). Are you sure you didn't mistype the URL or something? What kind of stuff did the survey ask?

Forcing people to take surveys is generally counter-productive, 'cause they'll just breeze through them giving default or random answers so they can get on with whatever they actually wanted to do...

Here we go Jake http://videorewardspot.com/?sov=125197&id=cGiveaways1

I cannot see in anyway how I typed this instead of Google, so all I can think of that I unknowenly hit a key which led to this. Although if you take a look at Give Aways it is sort of google-ish.

I have just noticed that they call a mobile phone a cell phone so it must have something to do with the US. :roll:

This could not be the work of someone trying to get into my pc could it?

Tomatwark

Not here either and I am using their browser.

Have you been phished?

Tom how can I find out?



Cheers

Mike

 

[JakeS]

Here we go Jake http://videorewardspot.com/?sov=125197&id=cGiveaways1

Doing a search on the domain name suggests three things:

- That it's a scam site that tries to gather mobile phone numbers so they can bill you for some unspecified 'service' in the future
- They apparently register mis-typed versions of common URLs - the example given was "youtbue.com", but one imagines that there's probably mis-spellings of Google itself in there too
- One place suggested the site also hosted a virus, so it's probably worth doing an update of your antivirus software and doing a virus scan.

If you entered your mobile number at any point, then it might be worth contacting your provider and asking them to refuse any services you haven't used before... I don't know how happy they'll be to help, though, I've found mobile networks almost as unhelpful as utility companies in the past. Certainly it'd be worth checking your next few bills very carefully, just in case.

That said they possibly only operate inside the US, and may not even be able to use a UK number... and I'm fairly sure it's illegal to charge people for services that you haven't told them about and explained the pricing of before the charge was made, if you do get billed it's certainly worth fighting it through your mobile operator - and look at the OfCom website for advice.

 

[Chems]

That's a virus, you have a nasty virus seen it before and its hard to remove.

 

[Mike.C]

Here we go Jake http://videorewardspot.com/?sov=125197&id=cGiveaways1

Doing a search on the domain name suggests three things:

- That it's a scam site that tries to gather mobile phone numbers so they can bill you for some unspecified 'service' in the future
- They apparently register mis-typed versions of common URLs - the example given was "youtbue.com", but one imagines that there's probably mis-spellings of Google itself in there too
- One place suggested the site also hosted a virus, so it's probably worth doing an update of your antivirus software and doing a virus scan.

If you entered your mobile number at any point, then it might be worth contacting your provider and asking them to refuse any services you haven't used before... I don't know how happy they'll be to help, though, I've found mobile networks almost as unhelpful as utility companies in the past. Certainly it'd be worth checking your next few bills very carefully, just in case.

That said they possibly only operate inside the US, and may not even be able to use a UK number... and I'm fairly sure it's illegal to charge people for services that you haven't told them about and explained the pricing of before the charge was made, if you do get billed it's certainly worth fighting it through your mobile operator - and look at the OfCom website for advice.

Chems wrote

That's a virus, you have a nasty virus seen it before and its hard to remove.

Jake I never put my mobile phone number in, but according to Chems I am too late anyway and have a virus.

I do not know how the virus got in there because I have Comodo Internet security Premium whos anti virus updates and scans every morning. I also have Superantispyware, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Spybot search and destroy and the windows defender
I have CCLEANER. If I find the virus can I use this to make sure every hidden parts are removed?

Cheers

Mike

 

[BigShot]

Mike - if you suspect you have malware ("virus" is a very specific term, "malware" is a more general one for malicious software) I'd suggest going to and registering on the forum at www.majorgeeks.com
Go to the Malware Removal section and go through all the steps in the "Read and Run This First" thread (a sticky thread at the top of the forum).

Some steps will apply to you computer, others won't so be sure to follow all the instructions.

When you've done, make a new thread on the Malware Removal forum and attach all the log files that were made while you went through the process I mentioned above. Then wait for a reply. You should get one in a day or so. They'll tell you what (if anything) you need to do to clean any traces of malware off your machine.

They are a fantastically helpful bunch (if sometimes seeming a little blunt as they help a LOT of people for no reason other than being good enough to do so) and have helped me straighten out a few machines in the past.

 

[Benchwayze]

Google browns me off.
The search enghine is poor compared to Yahoo. Chrome is forced down your throat and so is their Babylon search bar, which I cannot remove from my PC. They keep hijacking my home page with it.
I have tried three browsers so far but still they get in.

John :evil:

 

[BigShot]

I'm not sure what you mean by a search bar, John.
I've not had a search bar find its way onto my machine in a good few years now. The main way they sneak in is by a user installing software without reading all the steps on the installer. There's often one offering to install a search bar which needs unchecking.

That said, I find it's almost always a Yahoo search bar that things try to install.

I've just had a quick search for Babylon and as far as I can tell it's not a Google product. There's quite a lot of discussion out there about removing it though.


I've never really felt Chrome was forced down my throat though. I only installed it recently because I was in a hurry to do something and FireFox and IE were far too slow. Until then I barely gave it a thought.
It's an astonishingly fast browser though. So much so I've not been back to FireFox since.

 

[Mike.C]

Mike - if you suspect you have malware ("virus" is a very specific term, "malware" is a more general one for malicious software) I'd suggest going to and registering on the forum at http://www.majorgeeks.com
Go to the Malware Removal section and go through all the steps in the "Read and Run This First" thread (a sticky thread at the top of the forum).

Some steps will apply to you computer, others won't so be sure to follow all the instructions.

When you've done, make a new thread on the Malware Removal forum and attach all the log files that were made while you went through the process I mentioned above. Then wait for a reply. You should get one in a day or so. They'll tell you what (if anything) you need to do to clean any traces of malware off your machine.

They are a fantastically helpful bunch (if sometimes seeming a little blunt as they help a LOT of people for no reason other than being good enough to do so) and have helped me straighten out a few machines in the past.

Hi Bigshot, sorry that I have only just got back to you but I have been a bit busy. Thanks very much for your link I will pop over and see them today.

Google browns me off.
The search enghine is poor compared to Yahoo. Chrome is forced down your throat and so is their Babylon search bar, which I cannot remove from my PC. They keep hijacking my home page with it.
I have tried three browsers so far but still they get in.

John
Google browns me off.
The search enghine is poor compared to Yahoo. Chrome is forced down your throat and so is their Babylon search bar, which I cannot remove from my PC. They keep hijacking my home page with it.
I have tried three browsers so far but still they get in.

John :evil:

John I know what you mean :twisted:

Cheers

Mike

 

[BigShot]

No worries Mike.
I hadn't thought ill of you.

They do make it clear on the site, but I'll say it here to speed you along a little... "don't bump".
They deal with threads on the basis of who's waited longest for a reply, so every time you bump your own thread it puts you to the back of the queue.
If you feel you may have been forgotten after someone replied saying they'd get back to you and they don't for a few days - send them a polite PM just to check. I did it once and had been forgotten. Otherwise just post your logs, a description of your trouble and wait for a geeky superhero to come along and help.

 

[Chems]

wait for a geeky superhero to come along and help.

Why outsource, we have our own super geeks here! Pvt Ryan is a super geek and I think Knappers is too.

If I remember correctly, the two times I've seen this Google Redirect virus, one time it had modified the router settings, and that was an easy fix, the second time the computer had to be wiped it was so ingrained in it.

 

[BigShot]

Chems - I wasn't aware.
I just know the guys on that site do a fantastic job at weeding out even some of the worst infections I've had the displeasure of being asked to fix by family members. (The joys of being the go-to tech guy. Nightmare! Especially when you're no super-nerd!)

 

[Benchwayze]

And now I have a problem with my USB ports recognising some pen drives and not others!!! Sheesh! My external Verbatim drives? Not a breath from them.

If it isn't one thing it's another. I installed the Safari browser on my desktop PC. Works well, but it isn't exactly intuitive, and I am still finding out what it can do. I find that Opera is good on this Laptop though!

So I am giving that a run for its money!

John :ho2

 

[Mike.C]

I was just about to carry out Big Shot's recommemdation when I came across the worrying information (below) in the HomeHub connect/unconnect box. The really worrying part about these are that a number of them unsecured

Guest (not mine)

TALKTALK AE4D94 (not mine and never used talktalk)

BTOpenzone-H unsecured network (I am with BT, but I cannot say one way or another this came from, but I certainly WOULD NOT leave it unsecured)

AGGRESSOR (Not mine, and the name aggressor is worrying. It seems the sort of name a hacker would use)

Community Zone (Not mine)

BTFON (not mine, unsecured network)

BTOpen zone (not mine, unsecured network))

BTBusiness Hub-106 (not mine)

TALKTALK-65D270 (not mine)

BTHomeHub2-MP7K (not mine)

SKY95 C33 (not mine)

BTHomeHub-B508 (not mine)

My own BTHomehub connection is also included, but I do not want to put it on open forum.

Could the above be a hacker using these lot to gain access? I do on line banking, and I am worried that there might be a key logger with which they might have got my bank account details.

If all else fails will puting it back to factory spec cure and remove the problem, or will the hacker still have my details?

Cheers

Mike

 

[Deejay]

Hello Mike

I think the list contains devices to which you have wireless access, rather than ones which give access to your machine.

Which Home hub do you have?

Cheers

Dave