Beta-news.org ads (scam) - fake

What is Beta-news.org ads?

Beta-news.org fools users with its deceptive messages

Pop-up ads displayed by Beta-news.org are intrusive and can sometimes lead to suspicious websites

Beta-news.org is a website created for the sole purpose of pay-per-click advertising. The owners of the domain do not filter advertisers that promote through their push notifications, so pop-up ads shown by this site can lead to dangerous web pages. For this reason, you should not allow notifications from this website.

Most often, users get tricked by websites like this into allowing push notifications. Using social engineering tactics makes it easy to deceive not so technologically-savvy people. There are a couple of different techniques scammers use to do this. It can be fake CAPTCHA^[1] verification boxes, messages prompting to click the “Allow” button to watch a video, confirm your age, or other error disclaimers.

Users fail to realize that the button is not in the website screen itself, but it is actually a pop-up window asking users to give permission for this website to show push notifications. After the permission is granted, you can notice an increase in pop-up ads, banners showing up randomly, and constant redirects to websites you did not intend to go to.

This can lead users into going to suspicious websites that ask to download malicious programs or pages that coax into giving away sensitive information that can later be used to commit fraud against them.

Learn to spot scam advertisements

There are plenty of stories about how users got scammed by fake ads. Several signs to look out for:

• Check if the URL on the ad matches the landing page. Advertisers for untrustworthy products will try to mask their actual domain.
• Research the company by checking the reviews and whether the business has a valid address or a registered business.
• Check the ad for errors or mistakes in grammar or spelling
• Inspect the ad visually and decide if it looks professional
• If the promotion seems too unbelievable, it probably is not real
• Check the comments. If they look too positive and repetitive, it could be evidence of bots.

Beta-news.org is a dubious website using social engineering tactics to make users subscribe to push notifications

Fake errors and warnings

If a message suddenly popped up on your screen saying that you are in danger and your personal information is vulnerable, urging you to download some kind of software, do not under any circumstances. This is a common scare tactic used by fraudsters. This could just be a website you have been redirected to or a full-screen ad. A good example of this would be the “IP address & personal information might be exposed” scam we previously discussed. In that instance, scammers used publicly available information to try and scare people into installing a “VPN.”^[2]

Other common cons include technical support scams targeting Windows users. These sites look like legitimate Microsoft support pages. It would help if you were vary of warnings that seem to be displayed by tech giants. Scammers often use well-known companies to make the scam look more believable. If it is a prompt telling you to call someone, install software, or enter your information, make sure to double-check and confirm this on other sources.

Fake winner announcements, prize giveaways are also something you should not believe. Websites offering iPads, iPhones, or other things in exchange for something that takes only minutes are definitely fake. Once they get what they need, you will never receive anything. A good example of this is a popular Annual Visitor Survey scam.

If you want to stop Beta-news.org push notifications from being shown, you should remove website permissions manually by following our guide below. You will find instructions for the most widely used browsers – Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, MS Edge, Chromium, Internet Explorer. Using FortectIntego after removal will help detect any damage done by the website and fix it. This tool can also automatically clean your browsers' cookies and cache, so you do not have to remember it.

Google Chrome (desktop):

1. Open Google Chrome browser and go to Menu > Settings.
2. Scroll down and click on Advanced.
3. Locate the Privacy and security section and pick Site Settings > Notifications.
4. Look at the Allow section and look for a suspicious URL.
5. Click the three vertical dots next to it and pick Block. This should remove unwanted notifications from Google Chrome.

Google Chrome (Android):

1. Open Google Chrome and tap on Settings (three vertical dots).
2. Select Notifications.
3. Scroll down to Sites section.
4. Locate the unwanted URL and toggle the button to the left (Off setting).

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox and go to Menu > Options.
2. Click on Privacy & Security section.
3. Under Permissions, you should be able to see Notifications. Click Settings button next to it.
4. In the Settings – Notification Permissions window, click on the drop-down menu by the URL in question.
5. Select Block and then click on Save Changes. This should remove unwanted notifications from Mozilla Firefox.

Safari:

1. Click on Safari > Preferences…
2. Go to Websites tab and, under General, select Notifications.
3. Select the web address in question, click the drop-down menu and select Deny.

MS Edge:

1. Open Microsoft Edge, and click the Settings and more button (three horizontal dots) at the top-right of the window.
2. Select Settings and then go to Advanced.
3. Under Website permissions, pick Manage permissions and select the URL in question.
4. Toggle the switch to the left to turn notifications off on Microsoft Edge.

MS Edge (Chromium):

1. Open Microsoft Edge, and go to Settings.
2. Select Site permissions.
3. Go to Notifications on the right.
4. Under Allow, you will find the unwanted entry.
5. Click on More actions and select Block.

Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer, and click on the Gear icon at the top-right on the window.
2. Select Internet options and go to Privacy tab.
3. In the Pop-up Blocker section, click on Settings.
4. Locate web address in question under Allowed sites and pick Remove.

Removing website permissions did not help

If you have completed all the steps correctly and you still keep receiving the same pop-up ads from Beta-news.org you may have a potentially unwanted program installed that is acting like adware^[3]. Otherwise known as PUPs/PUAs, these apps disguise themselves as tools that provide users with a lot of handy functions. In reality, these applications are rarely functional and instead perform tasks in the background without the users' knowledge.

Tracking your browsing behavior, collecting it, and selling it to third parties is one of the things they do that you might not know about. A more obvious one is bombarding you with advertisements to generate revenue. On some occasions, these programs might even be able to change important system and browser settings, like your homepage.

To remove a PUP manually you can follow the instructions step-by-step below, or if you do not know which software could be responsible for this behavior, you should get SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes to help. These are trusted and secure professional tools that can try to detect unwanted programs and other malicious apps automatically and eliminate them for you.

Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:

1. Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
3. From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
4. Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
5. If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
6. Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.

If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:

1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
3. Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
4. At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
5. In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
6. Click OK once the removal process is finished.

Delete from macOS by removing items from Applications folder:

1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
2. In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
3. Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)

To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:

1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
2. Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
3. In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
4. Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.

You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.