Name | AdVPN Ads |
Type | PUP |
Short Description | The add may be promoted as a VPN service. |
Symptoms | Advertisements are generated. |
Distribution Method | Via freeware packages (bundling), freeware and shareware pages. |
Detection tool | Download SpyHunter, to See If Your System Has Been Affected By AdVPN Ads |
A very nasty adware has been reported by users to advertise heavily third-party content. Such PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) closely cooperate with third parties to generate profits. The app may pose as a VPN service, but it is advisable not to believe that since many users have detected is as adware. Since the developers of such applications may not mind what content they advertise, it often leads to either scamming sites or malware-infested online web links. Either way, security engineers strongly advise in case you see any of the above-mentioned symptoms to get immediately rid of this threat.
Ads by AdVPN – How Did I Start Seeing Them?
As previously mentioned, these apps may be administered by an unwanted program on your computer. Most unwanted programs like AdVPN install either by bundling or by being redirected to download links. Sometimes they have sites on which they feature on a download page. But, bundling is the most efficient method of distribution for such apps. It involves the adding of the app in the setup program of freeware apps, like a video player, mp3 player and others. Third-party freeware providers mostly use this strategy to generate profits by pushing random applications to user computers. AdVPN might have slipped into your system if you used a third-party site to download a program you may have wanted to use and neglected the ‘Custom’ or ‘Advanced’ installation options.
More About AdVPN Ads
Once on your computer, AdVPN may modify or create files in the %appdata%, %temp%, %user%, %system32% and Windows Registry Editor. These settings may involve permissions that allow it to start when Windows starts up and others that may enable it to employ tracking technologies, like Flash cookies (or LSOs), beacons, browsing cookies, pixels, etc. These cookies may be used to aggregate information about what the user of the particular computer is interested in. More precisely put, such technologies may be used to follow your online clicks, search history, browsing history to display targeted advertisements. This strategy is widely employed by adware applications and is called behavioural advertising.
After such app has prioritized your interests it may begin to display different forms of advertised content. Such are mostly annoying pop-ups in the middle of the screen while browsing, as well as intrusive redirects to suspicious web pages. Because of that particular detail, this app is considered unsafe. Cyber-criminal third-party content may do various devious deeds to the user:
- Con him into giving out his personal information using fake fill-out forms for a ‘prize’ in return.
- Trick him to give away his sensitive financial data and lose his finances by purchasing a product from a fake online shopping site.
- Make him call non-existent customer support of ghost companies to charge him very expensively for the call.
- Subscribe the user to an expensive SMS service, generating income to cyber-crooks automatically from his phone.
- Infect the PC with all types of malware to steal or encrypt sensitive information.
Cyber-criminals have become very cunning in their methods in this dynamic environment. The good news is that with their methods, anti-malware programs have also gotten smarter in locating anything out of the ordinary on an affected PC.
Removing Ads by AdVPN
In case, you have detected such program, and you have decided to remove it, make sure you guide yourself by the step-by-step manual, provided below. It will help you manually uninstall this pup and restore some of your settings. Since such programs may leave a mess after their uninstall, it is advisable to download and install an advanced anti-malware program to detect any leftover objects by AdVPN on your machine. By doing so, you also insure yourself for a more stable future. Finally, a good piece of advice from us – always keep up to date with the latest threats and methods of protection, because an anti-malware program may ensure a powerful protection, but there is no better defence against malware than the PC user.