Guide to Remove “Please complete a quick survey” Ransomware Virus Released on Online Safety Site

Feb. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- “Please complete this survey to continue” is a phrase that more and more internet users are becoming familiar with. Most have seen it when trying to download files from the internet and assume it is only an advertisement. However, this false survey has the potential to pour viruses into your computer’s system and render it all but inoperable.

Often times you may be redirected to another site when trying to download a file, and not all these sites are harmful. Sometimes the second site is simply the location of the download mirror. “Please complete this survey to continue”, however, is quite different from most of these advertisements in that it covers the majority of your computer screen with one large advertisement and persistently prompts the user to fill out a survey before they can resume their download. It has been reported that even trying to go to certain sites might give this prompt.

Unlike malicious money-grabbing viruses and virus types such as ransomware, this advertisement does not directly ask the user for money. Instead it loads the system files with harmful programs designed to steal personal information. This can make doing online banking or anything of the sort very risk – if infected with a keylogger, for instance, every key stroke could potentially be sent to the hacker on the other end. The trick behind this virus is that simply clicking on anything displayed within the advertisement can activate it.

One tell-tale sign of infection aside from the appearance of the advertisement on your screen is slow run/load times on your PC. Performing simple actions could take several minutes to load and complete. Be warned that the message can be cleverly disguised and appears as trusting. For instance, after clicking a music download, you may receive a pop up that seems to be generated by the site itself asking that a series of questions be answered apparently in lieu of having to register on the site or pay for a subscription to download said music. Because of this, it is not advised that users engage in any activity related to ad pop-ups and that all antivirus definitions and pop-up/ad blocks are up to date.

While it would seem that showing the advertisement and attempting to force users to abide by it is the primary means of attack, users should note that this virus can take the form of a download taken from a site as well. Instead of being prompted before-hand, the music download itself can contain this virus. Watching online videos or interacting with media from unfamiliar sources/sites is not advised.

Because this virus can unleash anything from a simple malware program (which can range in difficulty of removal) to Trojan horses (a single file that can contain literally hundreds of viruses), inexperienced PC users should not attempt to remove this program on their own. The most recent update to the “Please Complete A Quick Survey” removal guide post at http://www.onlinesafety411.com/remove-please-complete-a-quick-survey-to-continue-virus provides resources to remove this vicious threat. In some rare cases, the safest method of removal is to reboot your PC in “Safe mode with networking” (done by pressing the F8 key on startup and selecting the appropriate response) and running the appropriate antivirus, being sure to follow set removal steps as necessary. Remember – anything with the phrase “please complete a quick survey” should be avoided at all costs!