Bothered by browser ads that you cannot get rid of no matter what you have tried to this point? If that is the problem you have recently been struggling with in your computer, then we may just have the solution for you in the next lines. If the ads you are seeing in your browsers follow you to every site and page and never go away even after you try to stop them with the help of an ad-blocker, you probably have what the software researchers would normally call a browser hijacker. Another very typical symptom related to such software is the replacement of the previous search engine of your browsing program. The same may have also happened to your toolbar and homepage and/or new-tab page. Normally, any browser could get affected by a hijacker, though, understandably, popular ones like Firefox, Safari and Chrome are the ones that are most commonly targeted by such software.
Fortunately, this type of apps are normally not created with malicious intentions. They are simple tools programmed to advertise and promote different websites, online shops, web services, products and many more. Unlike Spyware, Trojan Horses, Ransomware or any other insidious and nefarious malware program, a hijacker would normally limit its activities to things that allow it to advertise more effectively (hence the changes imposed on the search engine, the toolbar, the homepage and so on). Still, for the regular user, such activity could be especially unpleasant and could prevent them from using their browsing program normally. In addition to that, there may even be certain (albeit unintended) security hazards related to this sort of apps that are yet another reason why it’s pretty much always better to uninstall any hijackers from a given computer. If the hijacking app you are presently struggling with is named “Dear Virgin Media Customer Congratulations” Pop up or something similar, you will find instructions on how to take care of it inside the removal guide we will give you next:
In the paragraph before the removal guide, we mentioned that a hijacker like “Dear Virgin Media Customer Congratulations”, though not being a malicious piece of software, may still hide certain dangers for your machine’s security. What we meant by that is you can’t really trust the commercial content you get exposed to by this application. Remember that the browser hijackers’ main goal is to show you different ads and make you click onto as many of them as possible. Usually, there isn’t much regard about the safety of your computer system. This means that many of the ads, the banners, the redirects and the pop-ups may come from sources that are less than reliable. In some of the more severe instances, you may even accidentally click on a commercial message that is actually a disguised redirect link to some illegal site with threats like Trojans, Spyware and Ransomware in it. For all you know, it may even be a direct download link for such malware. The point is, you can never be sure and that is why it’s always safer to remove the source of these advertising messages which in the current case is “Dear Virgin Media Customer Congratulations”.
SUMMARY:
| Name | “Dear Virgin Media Customer Congratulations” |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Symptoms | If your browser has undergone unwanted changes that you have’t allowed, it’s probably due to a hijacker invasion. |
| Distribution Method | Most of the distribution methods involve some form of spam or malvertising. |
Remove “Dear Virgin Media Customer Congratulations” Pop up Malware
Step 1: Closing Safari (or any other browser that you may be using at the moment)
First, you will need to close your browser if it is still open. If you can’t do that normally, you will need to Force Quit it:
Open the Apple Menu and select Force Quit to do that. You can also use the ⌘ key + Option Key combination to open the Force Quit Applications dialog box. In this box, select the Safari browser (or whatever browser you are using) and then click on the Quit button. Confirm the action by selecting Force Quit again.
Step 2: Killing suspicious processes
Ope Finder and go to Applications > Utilities and then open Activity Monitor. Now take a careful look at the processes there – look for any that seem suspicious, unknown and questionable. If you think that a given process may be the culprit behind the issue or may at least be related to it, highlight it with the mouse and select the i option at its top.
In the box that opens, click on Sample.
Scan the sample files with the online scanner we have on this page and if any of them get flagged as malicious, delete them and then kill their processes.
Step 3: Safely launching the browser
Hold the Shift from your keyboard and then launch Safari – holding Shift will prevent any previously opened pages to load again, just in case any of them were related to the problem.
If any problematic pages still load after you safe-launch the browser, then do the following:
Force-Quit the browser (Safari) again and then turn off your Wi-Fi connection by clicking on the Wi-Fi off option from the Mac Menu. If you are using cable Internet, simply disconnect the cable from your Mac.
Step 4: Uninstalling suspicious extensions
After you safe-launch Safari and are sure none of the previously opened pages load now, go to Preferences > Extensions.
Select and uninstall (by clicking on the Uninstall button) all extensions there that are unfamiliar to you or that you think may be suspicious. If you are not sure about a certain extension, it’s better to uninstall it – no extension is required for the normal functioning of the browser.
Step 5: Cleaning Safari
If you have other browsers aside from Safari, do the following:
In Safari, open Preferences from the browser’s menu and go to Privacy.
Select Remove All Website Data and then Remove Now. Note that this will delete all stored site data including any saved passwords and usernames. In other words, you will have to manually log-in to every site where you have a registration so make sure you remember your usernames and passwords.
Back in Preferences, click on General and see what your Safari’s homepage is. If it has been changed without your permission, change it back to what it used to be or to whatever you like it to be now.
Now go to the History menu and select the Clear History option.
Do the same to all other browsers you may have in your computer – here are examples with Chrome and Firefox.
Cleaning Chrome
Open Chrome and open its main menu, then go to More Tools > Extensions. Click on the Remove button next to all of the extensions that you do not trust.
Next, from the main menu, go to Settings and type Manage Search Engines in the search bar. Open the result that shows up and then delete all search engines other than the one you normally use by clicking on the three-dot icon next to the other ones and selecting Remove from list.
Back in Settings, type Reset and clean up and open the option that shows up (Restore settings to their original defaults). Confirm by selecting Reset Settings.
Cleaning Firefox
Open Firefox and then open its main menu. Go to Add-ons and open the Extensions menu from the left. Look at the extensions and Remove the ones you do not trust.
Next, open the menu again, go to Help > Troubleshooting information and in the page that opens, select Refresh Firefox and then confirm the action in the window that opens.
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