Captchatest.top ads (spam) - Free Guide

What is Captchatest.top ads?

Captchatest.top uses social engineering to make people subscribe to push notifications

Captchatest.top can fill up your screen with pop-up ads

Captchatest.top is a deceptive site that uses social engineering tactics to trick people into subscribing to push notifications. It asks users to press the “Allow” button to confirm that they are not robots. However, the button gives permission for the page to start spamming people with annoying pop-up ads.

The creators of the site may also use rogue advertising networks that place ads leading to dangerous websites. People may end up on scam sites that try to trick them into providing personal information, downloading PUPs (potentially unwanted programs),^[1] and even malware.

Social engineering

Social engineering methods help crooks manipulate people into performing an action they want. Nowadays, they do not need to have any hacking skills to monetize user activity. All they have to do is come up with a convincing message and image. You may come across messages like this:

Type Allow to verify that you are not a robot
Click Allow to watch the video
Download is ready. Click Allow to download your file
Press Allow to verify that you are not a robot

This can remind people of a captcha verification process. However, a legitimate human verification step would never ask you to choose between “Block” and “Allow” on a browser prompt. If a page actually wants to confirm that you are not a robot, it would ask you to identify certain objects in pictures, like traffic lights and bicycles or to simply check a box.

Captchatest.top may have appeared after browsing through untrustworthy sites

Distribution methods

Sites like Captchatest.top, are rarely found in the search results. Most of the time, they hide in other shady pages which are unregulated. If you visit illegal streaming platforms,^[2] you may have noticed that they are full of deceptive ads and sneaky redirects. Fake “Download” and “Play” buttons usually open harmful websites.

It is important to be careful while browsing the web. Visit sites that you know and trust. Use legitimate streaming platforms instead of rogue movie websites. They require only a small monthly subscription fee. If a new tab opens unexpectedly, it is best not to interact with it and close it.

In some cases, push notification spam websites can open without any user input. This can happen if you are infected by adware. It can cause an increased amount of commercial content, like pop-ups, banners, and redirects. It can operate in the background of the system without the users' knowledge.

Disable the intrusive pop-ups

Push notifications are based on a subscription model, so users can enable and disable them manually in the browser settings. If you need help with the process, follow the guide below:

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.

Google Chrome (Android):

1. Open Google Chrome and tap on Settings (three vertical dots).
2. Select Notifications.
3. Scroll down to the 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 the 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 the 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.

Protect your browsing privacy

All of the pages that you visit use cookies^[3] to track your browsing activities. Generally, this is not a bad thing as it helps websites personalize the user experience, but in some cases, it can cause many issues. If the pages you visit do not have strong security, cookies can be hijacked and used for malicious purposes. Untrustworthy pages can also sell them to advertising networks and other third parties.

That is why it is important to clear your browsers regularly. This can be automated with a maintenance tool like FortectIntego. It can delete all cookies and cache and also fix system damage, errors, registry issues which is especially helpful after a virus infection.

Scan the system for adware

Once you block the notifications, there is still a chance that there is adware hiding in your system. It is a type of PUP that can generate commercial content in the machine without your knowledge or consent. If you are still experiencing an increased amount of commercial content like surveys, banners, and redirects to suspicious pages, we strongly suggest deploying professional security tools like SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes to scan your machine.

They can detect suspicious processes running in your machine and eliminate all the files causing it. What is more, it can prevent such infections in the future by warning you about a dangerous download. Of course, you can remove programs manually, but it can be difficult to identify PUPs as they can be disguised as “handy” tools that you use every day. If you want to perform manual removal, you can follow the instructions posted below for Windows and Mac systems:

Windows 10/8:

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.

Windows 7/XP:

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.

Mac:

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.