I keep getting this Congratulations Amazon.com User

I've had this problem for some time. maybe you've solved it by now. Great, if you have. I've tried a lot of things. Then this morning I found this conversation and tried a few more. Each time, the problem immediately came back. For me, it happened every time I went to the Foxnews website. As soon as I started scrolling down the list of stories, it would pop up and take over. But it doesn't have much to do with Fox I think. It just exploits a weakness in that particular website. Anyway, I do actually do a lot of shopping on Amazon. That's why I have their app on my phone. This morning I decided to delete the Amazon app and see what effect it might have. I deleted the app and cleared all my website data. Lo and Behold, after visiting the Foxnews website many times, there has been no more interruption by the pesky Amazon "Congratulations" ad. I hope that's the end of it.

I had been experiencing this issue for 2 to 3 weeks or so. I finally got fed up today and resolved the matter with help from some answers on this very discussion board. Basically, I just heeded what some of the users above stated which is to remove recently added apps from your iPhone. I know for a fact I added the Google Hangouts app about 2 weeks ago and Google Maps about 2 or 3 weeks ago as well (FYI, a friend of mine had accidentally removed the Google Maps app so I had to reinstall it). After removing those two programs—the only programs I have added recently—the problem has ended cold turkey. The obnoxious pop up had been popping up every so often on random websites with no rhyme or reason. Today, it was popping up on a TooFab website article about the upcoming Real Housewives Atlanta Reunion altercation between NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak. For the hundredth time, I tried clearing my cache and shutting off my phone. Well it allowed me to utilize my Safari again but as soon as I clicked onto that website it popped up. Again, it wasn’t until I came to this website and got the idea to remove recently added apps did I finally get rid of the problem cold turkey. I can now view the website in question with no issue. My guess is some of these apps are not safe and you have to be careful which apps you’re adding. Are there bad versions of apps. One would think it be safe to install Google Hangouts and Google Maps on your phone. Not sure which app was the culprit but I would assume Google Hangouts as I have previously had Google Maps. The apps worked just fine and were the real thing too. I need Google Maps on my phone but I’m a little concerned about downloading it and if I download the right thing after this pop up disaster.

carolt495 wrote:

I keep getting this pop up and it’s driving me nuts on my iPad I have the pop up blocker on on have block all cookies on everything is green I have cleared history turned off my iPad doing the home button and the at same time I have searched how to get rid of this and no luck.. the site I am on is Kohl’s I have tried to do desktop version on iPad I am ready to throw it lol..

In addition to Diana's excellent recommendation, if you are using iCloud on any of your other devices, you may also want to clear History and Website Data on those devices. The source of that pop-up is not just Kohls, other links also generate the obnoxious offer. I had to repeat the deletion on several devices, numerous time to snuff it out.

I have an iPhone X and have had the annoying Congratulations pop up (see attached) on various websites so it didn’t seem website specific. But I think I may have discovered the culprit. I think it was a poker app that was infecting my phone. I went through and started deleting apps that I downloaded recently since the problem just started few weeks ago. I deleted the new apps one at a time and after each one, would go into settings and clear History and Website Data then would go to the pages that had the pop up to see if it came back again. Well after deleting the poker app, I noticed the issue seem to have gone away. Keeping fingers crossed that I found the culprit.

I find the same problem when visiting certain websites that use Javascript. See the attached screenshot. It happens in Safari of iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) but not on Mac. I tried all tips posted on this discussion (e.g., clear history and data, uninstall Amazon app, update iOS software, restart device, using different WiFi routers, etc.) but with no success 😟. Will Apple or any one please help?

This is becoming nightmareish on my Air 2...and it also affects Chrome and Firefox browsers. Within the last several days, this most annoying of all exploits has increased almost exponentially in both breadth and persistence...

It seems clear that the hack is being distributed via one or more corrupted ad servers. I have been successful in prodding tech support at one of my most frequented sites (Find A Grave) to start doing something about it. For a short time, they took down the ad server and the exploit disappeared. While I’m confident they now know they are acting as a vector, the corrupted ad server is, once again, visiting this curse upon their Apple OS customers. Ad revenue, not Apple OS customer angst, reigns supreme.

We’ll not see this rectified until...

A. Apple closes the security hole in it’s OS or...

B. The corrupted ad server(s) rid themselves of the parasite(s) they are knowingly distributing.

I’m not holding my breath for either.

Nothing works to get rid of this stupid ad. Clearing cache, blocking pop-ups, preventing cookies, etc....nothing works. Clicking “close” doesn’t work either and hitting the back button on the browser won’t even let you go back to Kohl’s. I had over $300 in my cart. Ended up going to Bed Bath & Beyond to purchase what I needed. Totally *****. I am no longer a Kohl’s customer after this colossal waste of my time.

I’ve been frustrated with the same problem on both an iPhone 7 Plus and the new iPhone X. You’re right that there is surprisingly little information about the issue online. I don’t believe it has anything to do with Kohl’s as I saw the exact same display while browsing a local television news site. In fact, I’ve never been on the Kohl’s site, so again, I don’t believe it has anything to do with them.

I’ve tried a number of approaches, including the ones listed here with no luck. The only thing that has worked is to install a third-party content blocker. I recommend you look into 1Blocker in the App Store or at https://1blocker.com. It has excellent reviews and I’ve used it without incident. I believe they have a free trial, as well. For what it’s worth, I have no connection to this app and there are other alternative products available. I’m just telling you that 1Blocker resolved this problem, at least so far, for me.

A few versions of iOS ago, Apple opened the Safari browser to support content blockers like 1Blocker. It’s unfortunate that such tools are necessary as they add some complications to the system and can, in fact, interfere with some legitimate web site features. Still, the option to have content blocker support in Safari is significant and, especially given this problem, I‘m very glad it’s there.

Good luck!

I’m getting the same thing multiple times a day. I have an iPhone X with the latest updates. Cleared Safari settings and still get the pop up ads. Happens on all the websites I visit. Yahoo, Facebook, Fox, msn.

Recommend you see my comment above. Like you, I was getting this annoying pop up on several web sites. The only the thing that’s worked consistently is to install a third-party content blocker. I went with 1Blocker, which is available in the App Store, though there other options available.

Good luck!

Had the same very persistent issue. Took your excellent guidance and looked for a good add blocker in the App Store. Chose free app from AdBlock and it seems to have solved the problem. I really don’t get how this congratulations pip up works but bothers me that there is not a better solution to protect against it. Apple, where are you on this one?

Glad to hear the blocker solved the problem. This week I noticed that 1Blocker added support for blocking scripts on web sites that can use our devices’ processing power for mining Bitcoin. Such work, they say, will drain battery performance. The release notes from 1Blocker indicate that thousands of sites use such mining scripts.

Personally, I haven’t researched any of this enough to know whether it’s true, but if it is, it stands to reason that the root cause lies in scripts at the web site’s server, and not with iOS or Safari (short of Apple incorporating blocking technology directly their Safari web browser).

I have the same problem with “Congratulations! ...” pop up. I downloaded 1blocker premium today. I have not been able to block the pop up. I suspect that I may not have all of the settings right. Can you tell me which settings I need to turn on to disable this pop up and which ones, if any, that need to disable? I have an iPhone 6s with iOS 10. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Another user has found out that if you have iCloud syncing turned on for Safari then it may reload this popup even if you clear your local safari data. So turn off iCloud syncing for safari then work to clear the data and see if that makes it go away

I’ve used 1Blocker for 6 months or so with no ill effects. I have, however, used its whitelist feature to allow some websites to work around 1Blocker’s protection. If a particular web site is giving you difficulties and you trust that site, you can add it to 1Blokcer’s whitelist to allow the site through without any content blocking.

It’s certainly true that third-party content blockers like 1Blocker introduce some complexity to the Apple eco system. I haven’t seen where they don’t recommend using one. Indeed, they themslves incorporated built-in support for using third-party content blockers in iOS starting with version 10, I believe.

Hope this helps.

— Robert