How can I stop the constant AT&T pop up surveys?
Over the past several weeks while internet surfing, I have seen pop up surveys by AT&T appear on my screen. I already have pop up blockers installed but the survey screen starts with a message that indicates "WITH THE PERMISSION OF MOZILLA FIREFOX" we have identified you IP address for an AT&T survey. Then my IP address appears & a survey starts with no option to exit. No matter what website I am on these appear. Tonight is the last straw before I change web browsers. While on Facebook today this survey appeared 26 times and froze my computer up repeatedly. I have complained to AT&T with no success. If this continues through Mozilla I will just change browsers. Further, I dont know about the legality of AT&T being allowed to show my IP address which could be hacked if my web activity is tracked. Is there a way to make this stop? Even the facebook aps do not stop this pop-up survey.
Todas las respuestas (2)
That sounds like a malware come-on, and not a real survey. A likely vector is an add-on, although it could also be external software simply targeting your default browser, or content injected by a proxy server due to a hijacked connection.
Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and cleaning up bad add-ons. I know it seems long, but it's not that bad.
(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program (XP: Add/Remove Programs). After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. (XP: Try sorting by last used.) This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Be suspicious of everything you do not recognize/remember, as malware often uses important or innocent sounding names to discourage you from removing it. Take out as much trash as possible here.
(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
- in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
firefox.exe "about:addons"
In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".
In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions.
Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.
Any improvement?
(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.
Success?
Just to clarify, mozilla does not allow or distribute this survey.