How to remove applications designed to promote boffero.com?
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is boffero[.]com?
Boffero[.]com is designed to load a fake CAPTCHA test (to trick its visitors into allowing it to show notifications) and promote questionable pages. It is important to mention that users do not visit websites like boffero[.]com on purpose. Usually, these pages get opened via other shady pages, dubious ads, or installed potentially unwanted apps (PUAs).
Boffero[.]com in detail
At the time of the research, boffero[.]com displayed a fake CAPTCHA test suggesting that visitors need to click the "Allow" button to prove that they are not robots. After clicking that button, boffero[.]com opened another similar website using the same clickbait technique.
Usually, notifications from websites like boffero[.]com contain links to untrustworthy websites, for example, various scam websites designed to trick visitors into providing credit card details, names, surnames, and other personal information, or downloading and installing potentially unwanted applications.
A couple of examples of notifications displayed by the boffero[.]com website are provided below. Those notifications promote scam websites offering to receive money for free. Typically, websites of this type ask to provide personal information. Therefore, boffero[.]com and similar pages should not be allowed to show notifications.
A couple of examples of untrustworthy websites that boffero[.]com may open are "IP Address & Personal Information Might Be Exposed", "Your Chrome Is Severely Damaged By 13 Malware!", and "Chance To Win The New iPad Pro". It means that neither pages opened or notifications displayed by boffero[.]com can be trusted.
It is worth mentioning that boffero[.]com may open legitimate pages too. Individuals behind it may be getting paid a referral fee when users purchase something and (or) create a new account on legitimate websites opened through boffero[.]com. However, it is more common that pages like boffero[.]com open shady websites and not legitimate ones.
More about potentially unwanted applications
Usually, apps of this kind are designed to promote pages like boffero[.]com and collect various information and (or) generate advertisements. They collect IP addresses, entered search queries, geolocations, and other browsing-related data. Also, PUAs can be designed to gather sensitive information.
What is worse, collected data may be misused for malicious purposes. For example, it may be sold to third parties, used to commit identity fraud, make unauthorized purchases, transactions, and so on. Therefore, users may become victims of identity theft, suffer monetary loss, encounter problems related to online privacy, and so on.
Also, PUAs can be designed to display banners, pop-up ads, surveys, coupons, and other ads designed to open questionable websites. In some cases, those can be used to distribute unwanted software - they can be designed to run certain scripts and cause unwanted downloads or even installations.
Name | Ads by boffero.com |
Threat Type | Push notifications ads, Unwanted ads, Pop-up ads |
Detection Names | Fortinet (Malware), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
Symptoms | Seeing advertisements not originating from the sites you are browsing. Intrusive pop-up ads. Decreased Internet browsing speed. |
Distribution Methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications (adware) |
Damage | Decreased computer performance, browser tracking - privacy issues, possible additional malware infections. |
Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Websites like boffero[.]com in general
Boffero[.]com is a website designed to trick visitors into clicking the "Allow" button (into allowing it to show notifications) and promote other dubious pages. There are many websites of this type on the Internet, some examples are rookinews[.]com, news-vocice[.]cc, and totaltopfeed[.]com. Most of them are pretty similar.
How did adware install on my computer?
It is common for potentially unwanted applications to be distributed by bundling them with free programs. In such cases, developers include PUAs in downloaders and installers for other programs as optional offers. Users download or install PUAs together with other programs when they leave certain settings unchanged.
As a rule, downloaders and installers used to distribute PUAs have "Advanced", "Custom", "Manual" (or other) settings, or ticked checkboxes. Users can use those settings to decline unwanted offers. Sometimes, potentially unwanted applications are distributed through advertisements by designing those ads to execute certain scripts.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
Downloaders, installers for free programs should be examined. It is common for them to have "Advanced", "Custom", "Manual" (or ticked checkboxes) that can be used to deselect offers to download, install potentially unwanted applications. Therefore, it is recommended not to finish downloads, installations without checking and changing the settings mentioned above.
Files and applications should be downloaded from official websites and via direct download links. Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), unofficial sites, free file hosting sites, third-party downloaders (and installers) often are used to distribute potentially unwanted, sometimes malicious apps.
Advertisements displayed on shady websites should not be clicked as well. Those advertisements could be designed to open other untrustworthy websites. Sometimes, by clicking those ads users cause unexpected downloads or installations. Unwanted or suspicious plug-ins, add-ons, or extensions installed on a browser should be removed.
Any unwanted programs installed on the operating system should be uninstalled as well. If your computer is already infected with rogue applications, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate them.
Appearance of boffero[.]com website (GIF):
Notifications from boffero[.]com:
Instant automatic malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
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By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.
Quick menu:
- What is Ads by boffero.com?
- STEP 1. Remove spam notifications from Google Chrome
- STEP 2. Remove spam notifications from Google Chrome (Android)
- STEP 3. Remove spam notifications from Mozilla Firefox
- STEP 4. Remove spam notifications from Microsoft Edge
- STEP 5. Remove spam notifications from Safari (macOS)
Disable unwanted browser notifications:
Video showing how to disable web browser notifications:
Remove spam notifications from Google Chrome:
Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and select "Settings". In the opened window select "Privacy and security", then click on "Site Settings" and choose "Notifications".
In the "Allowed to send notifications" list search for websites that you want to stop receiving notifications from. Click on the three dots icon near the website URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again).
Remove spam notifications from Google Chrome (Android):
Tap the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and select "Settings". Scroll down, tap on "Site settings" and then "Notifications".
In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and tap on them one-by-one. Once the pop-up shows up, select either "Block" or "Remove" (if you tap "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again).
Remove spam notifications from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen. Select "Settings" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen. Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications".
In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and block them using the drop-down menu or either remove them by clicking "Remove Website" at the bottom of the window (if you click "Remove Website" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again).
Remove spam notifications from Microsoft Edge:
Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window and select "Settings". Click on "Cookies and site permissions" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen and select "Notifications".
Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL under "Allow" section and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again).
Remove spam notifications from Safari (macOS):
Click "Safari" button on the left upper corner of the screen and select "Preferences...". Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane.
Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option using the drop-down menu or either remove them by clicking "Remove" at the bottom of the window (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)
How to avoid browser notification spam?
Internet users should be very skeptical when being asked to allow notifications. While this is a useful feature that allows you to receive timely news from websites you like, deceptive marketers frequently abuse it.
Only allow notifications from websites that you fully trust. For added security - use an anti-malware application with a real-time web browsing monitor to block shady websites that tries to trick you into allowing spam notifications. We recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
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