quizstope.com browser redirect - anyone know anything?

[oldgoatroper]

I think I've got some kind of browser infection that redirects to a quiz site of which one of the many dozens or hundreds of various domain names is quizstope.com (not quizstop.com)

For instance, I was trying to get to kaspersky.com and I accidently typed in kspersky.com and I get a popup telling me that I am the Alberta winner for November 15...

I did find out that domain parking companies are partly responsible for this, but I still think that something has infected my browser because I can no longer search for quizstope.com using google. If I type quizstope.com into google, nothing happens -- nothing at all. If I remove the "e" from after the "quizstop" such that it is "quizstop.com", a normal search is performed.

Searching for "quizstope.com" using Startpage.com yields normal results.

There doesn't seem to be hardly anything out there, except for one site "trojan-removal-tool.com" which claims to have a "complete" removal tool (executable) which I'm not so sure about at this point. Just one site?

Anyone seen this yet? What am I dealing with, here?

 

[genericname]

Definitely sounds like a hijack. Restart in safe-mode, and see if the behaviour persists. If not, then download hijackthis or Spybot S&D, run it, and hopefully you'll be able to boot normally with the problem gone.

 

[jtrainor56]

The Quizstope.com pop up is caused by a browser hijacker that modifies the computer's Internet settings to redirect Safari, FireFox and IE web browsers to phishing websites. Quizstope.com browser hijacker may load into the system memory and drop various malicious payloads onto the infected system. After launch, the Quizstope.com pop up may degrade the computer's performance by altering the registry and other key operating system files. The browser hijacker may also track keystrokes and collect user names, passwords and credit card details. It is strongly advised to scan your computer and remove Quizstope.com pop up as soon as possible.

 

[AnotherSignManiac]

after you run scans on your computer, dont forget to change your homepage (most of the time they are changed my the hijacker)

 

[oldgoatroper]

The Quizstope.com pop up is caused by a browser hijacker that modifies the computer's Internet settings to redirect Safari, FireFox and IE web browsers to phishing websites. Quizstope.com browser hijacker may load into the system memory and drop various malicious payloads onto the infected system. After launch, the Quizstope.com pop up may degrade the computer's performance by altering the registry and other key operating system files. The browser hijacker may also track keystrokes and collect user names, passwords and credit card details. It is strongly advised to scan your computer and remove Quizstope.com pop up as soon as possible.

Thanks Joe for the copy and paste from a site that I already said looks suspicious itself.

The Quizstope.com pop up is caused by a browser hijacker that modifies the computer's Internet settings to redirect Safari, FireFox and IE web browsers to phishing websites.

That's rather vague. What does that mean, exactly? And how does it accomplish this on a Mac, which doesn't use a hosts file like a
Windows platform?


Quizstope.com browser hijacker may load into the system memory and drop various malicious payloads onto the infected system.

Again, very vague and ambiguous.




After launch, the Quizstope.com pop up may degrade the computer's performance by altering the registry and other key operating system files.

Since when is a popup "lauched"? And still more vague language...



The browser hijacker may also track keystrokes and collect user names, passwords and credit card details. It is strongly advised to scan your computer and remove Quizstope.com pop up as soon as possible.

For claiming to have a complete removal tool for this "virus", they sure don't seem to be very certain as to what the threat actually comprises.

I'm suspicious that this site claims to know a lot about this threat yet, there is almost nothing else showing up in searches, so far....

 

[rickzan]

Three programs that are a must when online are Malware Bytes, CCleaner and AVG free. The malware program is worth the 25 dollars so it runs in background. I have ten computers at shop and home and these programs keep us fast and clean.

 

[oldgoatroper]

We have the Business AVG package -- no alerts. MWB shows up nothing. Latest Firefox.

I've noticed from my searches that Mac users are getting this, too as it is affecting Safari browsers, as well.

IE is also vulnerable.

 

[J Hill Designs]

i would start with host fix ... browser hijacks usually start with modifying the HOST file

 

[oldgoatroper]

Its not touching the hosts file, either -- that was the first thing I checked.

 

[Locals Find!]

Check your proxy settings on your browser see if they have been changed to redirect you. That is usually the first step to slow these things down enough so you can navigate to a fix.

 

[oldgoatroper]

No, I checked that, too...

But this is not what I identified as the problem.

The problem is...

I can no longer search for quizstope.com at google using Firefox. If I type quizstope.com into google, nothing happens -- nothing at all. If I remove the "e" from after the "quizstop" such that it is "quizstop.com", a normal search is performed and results are returned.

Searching for "quizstope.com" using Startpage.com or bing.com yields normal results.

But searching for "quizstope.com" at Google while using Firefox -- its as if the Enter key or the click on the Search button are ignored completely.

Searching for "quizstope.com" at Google using the Chrome browser works as normal -- results are returned right away.

So..... Something in my Firefox doesn't want to let me search for "quizstope.com" at google.

 

[Locals Find!]

Your firefox files have malware attached. Odds are this is hidden in other files on your system and in your registry.

Have you tried malwarebytes or something similar?? You need to track down where the malware is hidden and remove it.

 

[oldgoatroper]

Yes, as I've stated earlier, a current MWB scan turned up nothing.

 

[Locals Find!]

have you tried just removing firefox entirely and loading a fresh copy?

 

[oldgoatroper]

Got it figured... it was a filter in my Adblock+ that I had incorrectly configured.

OK, I'll go back into my cage, now...