Most users usually ignore it when they see lots of ads on the websites that they visit. They think that the ads are just part of the income-generation strategy of these websites— which could be true. Most websites accept banner ads, text ads, and even promotional videos to gain revenue for the website.
However, if you see the same ads wherever you go, then there must be more to it than a simple money-generation strategy. In a sense, it still generates money, but the system behind it is more insidious than you’d expect. For example, if you see the same ad for the latest MacBook Pro on all the websites that you visit, regardless of what the website is all about, then your device is probably infected by adware.
There are so many different types of adware and they generally work the same, except for some minor nuances. Basically, a malicious script is installed to your device, either by visiting an infected website or installing it through bundling. Once the potentially unwanted program (PUP) is installed, it then delivers intrusive ads whenever you browse the internet. Most of these types of adware install a browser extension to fulfill this purpose.
One popular adware that works this way is OffersWizard. Based on the name of the adware, it offers various discounts, deals, sales, and other promos to improve the user’s online shopping experience. However, its primary function is to display products and services from websites or companies that sponsor the ads.
OffersWizard is an adware program that presents itself as beneficial software for online shoppers. If you think your computer or device has been infected by this adware, this guide should help you understand more how this malware works and how you can get rid of it completely from your device.
What is OffersWizard?
As mentioned earlier, OffersWizard is a type of malware that generates revenue through advertisements. Technically, it is not a virus. However, it does exhibit a lot of malicious traits, including rootkit’s ability to hook deep into the operating system, browser hijacking, and other general actions that interfere with the user experience. The industry generally categorizes it as a PUP or potentially unwanted program.
The OffersWizard browser extension claims to help users save time and money when buying online. Although this functionality may sound legitimate, this plug-in actually adds zero real value and delivers intrusive third party ads instead. The easiest way to distinguish ads delivered by this malware is when you see the ‘Ads by OffersWizard’ label. These ads can come in the form of sponsored links, deals, coupons, shopping comparison, banners, content suggestions, pop-up, and pop-under advertisements. Clicking the ads displayed by OffersWizard can lead to more high-risk malware infections.
There are the known aliases of the OffersWizard malware:
- Generic PUA JF
- Win32:Amonetize-CW [PUP]
- Trojan.Win32.Downloader.av
- Win32.Trojan-downloader.Agent.Lnos, Mal/Generic-L
- PE:Trojan.Win32.Generic.174FC083!391102595
- Trojan.Win32.Agent.ddzaav
- Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Agent.aadeh
- Win32:Downloader-VLT [Trj]
- TROJ_GEN.R092C0EHO14
- PUA.Gen
- Downloader.Agent.Win32.215042
- PUP-Amonetize!38FA2BAF42C2
- Malware/Win32.Generic
- Generic PUA NB
- Trojan.Gen.2
- TROJ_GEN.R002C0OEP18
How is OffersWizard Distributed?
OffersWizard is an ad-supported browser add-in that is installed on Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. The The installation folder is usually located in a subfolder under the user’s profile folder, such as C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\{68AAE05C-38D2-452C-9A93-81832E37A5DE}\.
One distribution strategy of OffersWizard is through software bundling. It is typically included when you install another free software, such as system cleaners, converters, video recording or streaming clients, download managers, PDF creators, and others.
When you install any of these freeware apps, the OffersWizard gets sneakily installed as well. This happens when you don’t read every step of the installation process or you choose the quick install option and allow the installer to do its thing. Some of the applications that are known to include OffersWizard are Superfish, 1ClickDownload, Yontoo and FBPhotoZoom. Most users don’t know that the malicious program is bundled with the freeware so they are surprised to find where the malware came from.
Aside from bundling, it is also possible for the adware to be installed when you click an OffersWizard advertisement or pop-up. Sometimes you don’t even need to click anything and you just need to visit the infected website, which is a strategy referred to as malvertising. Just visiting the URL can trigger the download of the adware unto your device.
Regardless of how the OffersWizard got into your computer, it is important to remove it immediately to prevent it from causing more harm to your device and your personal information.
What Does OffersWizard Do?
OffersWizard is programmed to drive traffic and generate revenue to the adware’s affiliates, through the following strategies:
OffersWizard displays advertisements on the user’s computer. OffersWizard delivers pop-up ads, sliding ads, banners, video ads, and in-text marketing links. The OffersWizard browser plugin will highlight words or phrases on the web pages that you are visiting, then transform them into hyperlinks. Then these links are inserted within the text, often with a double underline to distinguish them from normal links. If the mouse cursor rolls over the link, the advertisement will pop up. And if the link is clicked on, the OffersWizard developer will earn affiliate revenue.
OffersWizard also uses web browser redirects to drive more traffic to the client’s website. This strategy, popularly known as browser hijacking, means taking over the affected web browser and redirecting all traffic to specific websites repeatedly. Most of the time, the OffersWizard adware redirects the user to web pages that host numerous ads and sponsored content. This lets advertisers and marketers to gain revenue from affiliate marketing.
OffersWizard also generates revenue through market research, collecting data about the user’s browsing history, online habits, browser settings, and purchasing behavior. The collected information may be sent to the virtual server owned by the adware developer or sold to a third-party that will be used in harmful practices.
OffersWizard works similar to other types of adware that affects web browsers, including ShopBrain, Alphashoppers, SaveBox, Srchus.xyz Redirect, and PriceGong. These browser plugins claim to improve the user’s online shopping experience by making deals and coupons available in one place.However, they actually hinder browser performance and load intrusive ads that are difficult to get rid of.
OffersWizard Removal Instructions
Deleting the OffersWizard adware from your computer entails deleting all the components associated with the adware. If you’re not thorough with the removal process and some components or infected files are left behind, it will just keep on regenerating and infecting your computer time and time again.
To make sure that you get rid of everything related to OffersWizard, make sure to follow our complete removal instructions below:
Step 1: Quit All OffersWizard Processes.
To be able to delete the components of OffersWizard, you must first kill all its running processes, otherwise you’ll run into some kind of error. To kill the OffersWizard processes, do the following:
- Right-click on any empty space in the Taskbar, then choose Task Manager from there. You can also press CTRL + ALT + DELETE, then choose Task Manager from the menu that appears.
- Under the Processes tab, look for all entries related to the OffersWizard adware. You can refer to the known aliases listed above and see if any of the processes have the same name.
- Choose the suspicious process and highlight it.
- Click End Task at the bottom of the window.
- Follow the same steps for all suspicious processes.
If you’re having trouble killing these processes, you might need to boot into Safe Mode first. Once you’re in Safe Mode, you can safely quit these processes and proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Uninstall the OffersWizard.
If the adware came with a PUP, you need to uninstall it from your computer by doing the steps below:
- Click the Start button, then choose Settings.
- Click Apps > Apps & features.
- Scroll down to the OffersWizard app from the list.
- Click on it, then choose Uninstall.
- Click the Uninstall button once again to confirm your actions.
- Restart your computer when prompted.
Step 3: Delete All Files Generated by OffersWizard.
OffersWizard creates a lot of files and registry entries on your system, which makes it difficult to completely remove from your device. Make sure that you don’t miss any of these files to prevent future trouble.
Here are some of the files you should look for:
- \??\C:\Windows\system32\drivers\nethfdrv.sys
- %PROGRAMFILES%\ver2OffersWizard\190.dll
- %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\ver2OffersWizard\190_x64.dll
- %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\nethtsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\netupdsrv.exe
- %LOCALAPPDATA%\{1D02742B-675A-4330-9AD6-6817F9783FD0}\OffersWizard.exe
- %PROGRAMFILES%\ver2OffersWizard\B9eG190.exe
- %PROGRAMFILES%\ver2OffersWizard\e6OffersWizard66.exe
- %PROGRAMFILES%\ver2OffersWizard\L2h.exe
- %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\nethtsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\system32\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\system32\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\system32\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\system32\netupdsrv.exe
- %WINDIR%\system32\nethtsrv.exe
You also need to go to your Registry and delete the following entries:
- SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OffersWizard update
- Software\OffersWizard
- SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\Root\LEGACY_NETHFDRV
- SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\nethfdrv
- SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\NetHttpService
- SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Enum\Root\LEGACY_NETHFDRV
- SYSTEM\ControlSet002\services\nethfdrv
- SYSTEM\ControlSet002\services\NetHttpService
- SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_NETHFDRV
- SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\nethfdrv
- SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\NetHttpService
Once you have deleted everything, make sure to empty your Trash.
Step 4: Scan for Leftover Files.
Check if there are any other threats or infected files left on your computer by scanning your system using a reliable anti-malware program. Don’t do a quick scan. Perform a deep scan instead, to make sure that all directories are swept clean. It is also a good idea to schedule a regular scan of your computer so that you can easily catch malicious apps when they infect your computer.
Step 5: Uninstall the OffersWizard Extension.
The next step would be to uninstall the OffersWizard extension that the malware added to your browser.
If you’re using Chrome, just click the menu button found at the top-right corner of the window, click on More tools > Extensions. Or you can simply type chrome://extensions into the address bar. From there, choose the extension you want to delete, then click the trash icon.
For Mozilla Firefox, you need to click the menu button found in the upper-right corner of the screen and then click on Add-ons. Right-click on the suspicious extension to uninstall it from your browser.
If you’re using Internet Explorer, click on the gear menu located at the top-right corner of the window and choose Manage add-ons > Toolbars and Extensions. Uninstall the suspicious OffersWizard plugin from there.
Step 6: Reset Your Browser.
To completely undo all the changes caused by the adware on your browser, you need to reset or restore it to switch back to your default homepage, search engine, and new tab page.
Summary
The OffersWizard adware is not considered a high-risk malware because it does not directly ask for money, uses your resources, or damages your hardware by running background processes. The only danger this adware poses is when it redirects the user’s traffic to potentially risky websites. Even though the risk level is not that high, this doesn’t mean that you can let it continue to run rampant on your computer. All malicious software, regardless of the danger level, should be removed from your computer as soon as they are detected.
Removing adware, like OffersWizard, requires careful and thorough actions during the removal process to ensure the software is entirely eradicated.