Shopswell Adware
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is Shopswell?
Shopswell is a deceptive application claiming to save time and money while shopping online - "We'll let you know when products drop in price.
Save time and money with Shopswell." These false claims often trick users into believing that Shopswell is a legitimate app, however, this application is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware. After system infiltration, Shopswell generates intrusive online advertisements and tracks Internet browsing activity.
Shopswell employs a 'virtual layer' to generate pop-up, banner, coupon, and other similar intrusive online advertisements. None originate from users' visited websites and by concealing underlying content, they significantly diminish the Internet browsing experience.
Furthermore, some of these ads lead to various malicious sites often containing infectious content. Clicking them risks further high-risk adware or malware infections.
Shopswell continually monitors browsing activity and collects various information (such as IP addresses, websites visited, pages viewed, search queries, etc.) Be aware that the data recorded might be personally identifiable and shared with third party companies who misuse personal details to generate revenue.
Thus, the presence of an information-tracking app on your system can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. For this reason, you should uninstall Shopswell immediately.
There are hundreds of potentially unwanted programs also claiming to provide identical functionality, however, Shopswell and other apps such as Triangle Trail, FrameFox Shop, and CashBack provide no real value for users. These apps are designed only to generate revenue for the developers.
Rather than enabling the functionality promised, they continually track Internet browsing activity and deliver intrusive online advertisements.
How did Shopswell install on my computer?
Shopswell is free for anyone to download on its official website, however, it is also distributed using a deceptive software marketing method called 'bundling'. For this reason, many users install it inadvertently. Bundling is essentially stealth installation of potentially unwanted programs with regular software/apps.
The developers know that many users do not express enough caution when downloading and installing software. Therefore, concealing PUPs within the 'Custom/Advanced' settings is effective - users often skip this section and expose their systems to risk of infection.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
To protect the system from adware-type infections, be attentive during the download and installation processes. Closely analyze each step using the 'Custom' or 'Advanced' settings and opt-out of all additionally-included software, since it is mostly malicious.
Deceptive free software installers distributing Shopswell adware:
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Quick menu:
- What is Shopswell?
- STEP 1. Uninstall Shopswell application using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove Shopswell adware from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove Shopswell ads from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove 'Ads by Shopswell' from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove Shopswell ads from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
Shopswell adware removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window, look for "Shopswell App", select this entry and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted program that causes Shopswell ads, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Remove Shopswell adware from Internet browsers:
At time of research, Shopswell did not install its browser plug-ins on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox, however, it was bundled with other adware. Therefore, you are advised to remove all potentially unwanted browser add-ons from your Internet browsers.
Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the shopswell ads, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, select these entries and click the trash can icon.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the shopswell ads, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with shopswell ads removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....
In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the shopswell ads, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.
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