Bluewinds.xyz pop-up ads (fake) - Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

What is Bluewinds.xyz pop-up ads?

Bluewinds.xyz ads can disrupt your online activities and bring you to dangerous websites

Push notifications might deliver links that are not safe to click

You might encounter Bluewinds.xyz website after being redirected from somewhere else via your browser – be it Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, or another. Upon entry, you will be presented with a pop-up message that asks you to enable notifications. Additionally, you might see a deceptive picture in the background with misleading information, which is supposed to convince you that pressing the “Allow” button is the right thing to do.

If you fulfill the request, you automatically grant the website to deliver your notifications, delivered periodically at random times. These commonly include links to potentially dangerous websites. If clicked, you might be tricked into subscribing to more notifications from insecure sites, install useless or malicious software, or provide your personal information to scammers.

This is why you should never click on the links provided and instead of the notifications once and for all. For that, you need to access web browser settings and deny permission for Bluewinds.xyz ads to be shown. Below you will find more information about the scam, how to avoid it in the future, and how to make the pesky notifications go away for a safer system.

This is why you end up on potentially dangerous websites

There are two ways how you could have ended up on a scam website on the internet:

• You clicked on a link on a malicious website
• You were redirected by adware^[1] installed on your computer.

Billions of websites exist on the internet, and tech giants such as Google made a lot of progress regarding the safety of the content provided within those sites. Nonetheless, scams are relatively difficult to detect, as they need first to be reported. As soon as that is done, these websites are shut down for good by service providers.

Thus, it is inevitable that you might come across a suspicious or malicious website once in a while, so you should always take precautionary measures. For example, employing powerful security software with real-time protection can warn you about the incoming dangers. Also, using an ad-blocker can prevent you from viewing malicious ads.

When it comes to adware, however, it might act more unpredictable. Some more aggressive types might open browser windows at any time and direct you to ad-filled or malware-laden pages. Less aggressive adware might be difficult to spot, as ads and redirects might be less common.

Nonetheless, adware is usually distributed within software bundles, which often results in users not being aware that they have their computers infected in the first place. This is why we strongly recommend you employ SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, or another anti-malware software and perform a full system scan to ensure that no malicious programs are hiding on your device.

If adware of malware was indeed found, we also recommend you use FortectIntego to clean your web browsers and repair damaged system files. You can also reset your web browsers if required. If you need more details about performing these steps on various browsers, check the instructions at the bottom section of this article.

Bluewinds.xyz might use various tricks to make you click the "Allow" button

Remove the unwanted notifications

Scams and deception can sometimes be difficult to recognize, especially for those less tech-savvy. Cybercriminals are well aware of that; that's why scams like You've made the 9.68-billionth search, Pornographic virus alert from Microsoft, Your system is infected with (3) viruses, and many others, exist. They prey on users who are easily manipulated, all in exchange for monetary gain. This disgusting behavior won't stop any time soon; hence spreading awareness is so important.

When it comes to the creators of Bluewinds.xyz, they are trying to use various social engineering^[2] techniques in order to make users subscribe to the notifications. These can then be used to deliver ads directly on users' screens. If clicked, intentionally or not, these ads benefit the crooks financially.

Obviously, users will not subscribe to such ads intentionally, so the creators need to think of something that would convince them to do so. Usually, they ask users to subscribe by pretending that the action itself means something else. One of the examples you might encounter could say the following:

Click “Allow” to close this window

Some users might believe that clicking the button would actually be a way to get out of the site – it is obviously not true. In other cases, crooks imply that some video is about to be shown, or a user must verify that they are not a robot. In any case, the result is always the same – visitors are then redirected to a similar website, or the page is refreshed. The difference is, however, that the notifications can now be produced at any time and will be shown directly on the desktop.

If that happened to you, don't worry. All you have to do is prevent the website from sending you ads. Follow these steps:

Google Chrome (desktop):

1. Open Google Chrome browser and go to Menu > Settings.
2. Scroll down and click on Advanced.
3. Locate 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.

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.

You can get rid of notification prompts via browser settings

Initially, the browser notification feature is not malicious and intended for good use. In fact, most legitimate websites might ask you to show you notifications, and you are free to decline that. That being said, many users said that they are simply annoyed by these prompts in the first place, as it is just another stop that needs to be done to enjoy the actual content of the site.

If you are one of such people and would like to disable notification prompts so you wouldn't have to click “Block” each time, there is a solution for you. Follow these steps:

• Open Google Chrome
• Go to Menu > Settings
• Scroll down to Privacy and security section
• Select Site Settings
• Scroll down again and pick Notifications
• Choose Use quieter messaging option, which would allow you to access the prompt upon the click
• You can also pick Don't allow sites to show notifications option to completely stop the prompts.