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Possible Fake Firefox update notice?

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I've recently been getting a notice that I need to upgrade my Browser. However when I go to Help , About Firefox in my menu. The pop up indicates I have the latest version of Firefox.

I was wondering if this is perhaps a virus, or a scam someone has tried to pull.

The URL for the update is:

http://www.updating-your-browser.com/Firefox/

and to further incriminate the site The fine print reads

Disclaimer: We are not affiliated nor partnered, with Firefox. Firefox has not authored, participated in, or in any way reviewed this advertisement or authorized it. All trademarks, service marks, logos, and/or domain names (including the names of products and retailers) are property of their respective owners.

I've recently been getting a notice that I need to upgrade my Browser. However when I go to Help , About Firefox in my menu. The pop up indicates I have the latest version of Firefox. I was wondering if this is perhaps a virus, or a scam someone has tried to pull. The URL for the update is: http://www.updating-your-browser.com/Firefox/ and to further incriminate the site The fine print reads Disclaimer: We are not affiliated nor partnered, with Firefox. Firefox has not authored, participated in, or in any way reviewed this advertisement or authorized it. All trademarks, service marks, logos, and/or domain names (including the names of products and retailers) are property of their respective owners.

Chosen solution

This page isnt official firefox update page, when you need update Firefox you will see this window(image attached), this page that you said is a malicious page, but only do update from Mozilla Firefox Official Page

My antivirus detected a malware and blocked the page, my antivirus is Bitdefender Antivirus

Read this answer in context 👍 25

All Replies (16)

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Chosen Solution

This page isnt official firefox update page, when you need update Firefox you will see this window(image attached), this page that you said is a malicious page, but only do update from Mozilla Firefox Official Page

My antivirus detected a malware and blocked the page, my antivirus is Bitdefender Antivirus

Modified by Diego Victor

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Whenever you get a message / popup that software / files need to be updated,

DO NOT USE ANY OF THE PROVIDED LINKS.

While this may be a legitimate message, it could also be Malware or a Virus. Any time you want or need to check for upgrades, go to the web site of the True Owner of the program in question. For example, to check out Firefox, go to Mozilla.org or Firefox In Any Language.

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Yes it is fake as these scammers have created a small number of similar sites to try and exploit the popularity of Firefox and inexperienced users.

Firefox updates is done either as a software update in Firefox by way of a .mar file or by downloading it from mozilla.org and never by as a small .exe like this especially since Firefox is also for Mac OSX and Linux.

I uploaded the Updater_Setup.exe to Virus total. Detection ratio: 7 / 48 https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/9f0e574caf752e7ed5e98d397c1dba1d8a8df43de37b6ad05a3a3edc3c30712b/analysis/1388784095/

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Hi dakotadugger, when and where do you get the message? Is it specific to particular sites (like in-page advertising) or more random? At startup, or new window/new tab, or ??

Some freeware is bundled with various undesirable software that can run inside Firefox (as an extension) or outside Firefox and launch advertising pages. Probably worth some investigation, but to get more specific, knowing the pattern would be helpful.

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I found that the same popup/new window opened when i was visiting the site http://elitedaily.com/news/world/man-writes-lengthy-complaint-airline-sit-next-thought-infant-hippopotamus/

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I have also just had the same page come up, and worryingly I don't know where it came from, as I have been browsing only well-known websites, like telegraph.co.uk, or newscientist.com. I can't really believe one of those has been hacked - but maybe.

This is obviously pretty common, and I think

Mozilla should put out an advisory notice - FAST!

before this catches out a lot of people - I almost fell for it, but checked the version via Help About, as mentioned above.

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Go to the Mozilla Add-ons Web Page and find a good add blocker.

Modified by James

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I probably got another fake update message, which I try to upload as screen shot. The problem is that antivirus and some other programs such as avast-browser-cleanup_9.0.0.184.exe JRT61.exe rkill.com do not find anything suspicious on my window7 with updated firefox.

Can someone help me to get rid of the fake update (and the malware behind it)?

Thanks

wlan

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Firefox v27 just came out. Go to Mozilla.org.

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Sorry, but my problem is not to update firefox, but to remove the fake messages for a firefox update (see my first message), which probably are a result of some malware running on my PC.

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Try see this article maybe help you to remove it

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Go to the Mozilla Add-ons Web Page and look for a good add blocker. .

Modified by James

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Sometimes unwanted browser messages are displayed by add-ons which may have been included with various free software downloads. You could try this:

Disable ALL nonessential or unrecognized extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable.

Usually 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?

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Similar problem and again on well traveled sites like CNN, yahoo, SI etc. I haven't clicked on them but closed screen so nothing downloaded. Running Bit Defender and Malwarebytes Pro. Doubt that anything got to my machine but the pop up is annoying. Yes, i have Ad Blocker

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ghinfla5

You can sent a report to The FBI via their web site Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) {web link}

You can also report such a site at; Google Report Phishing Page {web link} which is the same when done while on site by going to Help > Report Web Forgery

Help us safeguard Mozilla’s trademarks by reporting misuse {web link}

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Hi ghinfla5, sometimes this problem is due to external software, sometimes a proxy or other diverted connection (e.g., DNS server changed), and sometimes an add-on within Firefox.

Try disabling ALL nonessential or unrecognized extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable.

Usually 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.

Does that eliminate or reduce the problems?

For advice on specific extensions you can start a new thread an use the Troubleshooting tool to gather a list, or you can extract a list manually from this page:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the upper left corner, click the "Copy Text to Clipboard" button and then paste the data into a reply. You can remove the information below the extension list, which usually starts from "Important Modified Preferences".