How to eliminate the ads delivered by captcha-smart.top website?

What is the captcha-smart[.]top website?

Sharing similarities with ositieonthat.space, news-hoyisa.cc, emoxan.xyz, and many others, captcha-smart[.]top is a rogue site. It is designed to present visitors with dubious content and/or redirect them to different (likely unreliable or malicious) webpages.

Users typically enter rogue sites via redirects caused by untrustworthy pages, intrusive adverts, or installed PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Applications).

Captcha-smart[.]top in detail

The behavior of captcha-smart[.]top is determined by its visitors' IP addresses/ geolocations. In other words, this information dictates whether visiting users are presented with questionable material and/or redirected elsewhere.

Furthermore, most sites of this kind use deceptive content to trick users into allowing their browser notifications. Captcha-smart[.]top employs fake CAPTCHA verification for this purpose. Should the website's notifications be allowed - it will start running intrusive advertisement campaigns.

The delivered ads are more than just a nuisance, they also endanger device/user safety. When clicked on, the advertisements redirect to various untrustworthy/malicious websites, and some can download/install software (e.g., PUAs) without user permission.

Threat Summary:

Name	captcha-smart.top pop-up
Threat Type	Push notifications ads, Unwanted ads, Pop-up ads
Detection Names	Cyan (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Observed Domains	a.captcha-smart[.]top; f.captcha-smart[.]top; d.captcha-smart[.]top; b.captcha-smart[.]top; i.captcha-smart[.]top; g.captcha-smart[.]top; h.captcha-smart[.]top; c.captcha-smart[.]top; [.]top; [.]top; [.]top; e.captcha-smart[.]top
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. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner 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.

Potentially unwanted application overview

PUAs appear harmless and offer "handy" features, which are seldom operational. What is more, most unwanted apps have harmful abilities, e.g., causing redirects, delivering intrusive ad campaigns, modifying browsers (browser hijacker), and gathering vulnerable data. In summary, PUAs can cause system infections, serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even lead to identity theft.

How did adware install on my computer?

PUAs are spread using the "bundling" marketing method - packing regular software with various additions. Rushed downloads/installations (e.g., skipped steps/sections, etc.) increase the risk of allowing bundled content into the device. Intrusive advertisements proliferate PUAs as well. Upon being clicked, the ads can execute scripts to download/install these applications stealthily. PUAs may also have "official" download webpages.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

It is advised to research software and only download from official/verified sources. Dubious download channels, e.g., unofficial and freeware sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, etc. - often offer bundled and harmful content.

When downloading/installing, it is recommended to read terms, study possible options, use the "Custom/Advanced settings, and opt-out from all additions. Intrusive adverts appear ordinary and innocuous, yet they redirect to questionable sites (e.g., gambling, pornography, adult-dating, etc.).

In case of encounters with such ads and/or redirects, the device must be checked and all suspect applications and browser extensions/plug-ins detected - immediately removed from it. 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 the captcha-smart[.]top website (GIF):

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:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner 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 captcha-smart.top pop-up?
• 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why am I seeing ads (browser notifications) delivered by captcha-smart[.]top in the right lower corner of my desktop?

You've likely visited captcha-smart[.]top and allowed it to deliver its browser notifications. It is noteworthy that such rogue sites are typically accessed inadvertently, and they use deceptive content (e.g., fake CAPTCHA verification, clickbait, etc.) to trick visitors into enabling their notifications.

I have clicked on notification ads, is my computer infected?

Clicking on a notification is harmless, yet these ads often promote various questionable and malicious websites and apps that may cause system infections.

Is captcha-smart[.]top a virus?

Captcha-smart[.]top is not considered to be a virus. However, sites of this type are commonly used to endorse virulent (i.e., malware and malware-proliferating) content.

Will Combo Cleaner remove captcha-smart[.]top ads automatically or manual steps are still required?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can scan devices and revert all the permissions granted for this website. It will block all further access to captcha-smart[.]top as well. Hence, no additional steps will be necessary.

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