Scrubheiress.com ads (fake) - spam
Scrubheiress.com ads Removal Guide
What is Scrubheiress.com ads?
Scrubheiress.com relies on users to click the “Allow” button
Scrubheiress.com is a fake website making money from sending ads in push notifications
Scrubheiress.com is a dubious website created for advertising purposes. The creators of the page get paid for every click you make.[1] In order for them to do this, users have to grant permission themselves or download a potentially unwanted program on their system. The biggest problem is that the pop-up ads they send come from all sorts of different sources, and some of them might be considered more than shady.
The creators do not care about your privacy and safety, so this might impact your user experience significantly. You might start seeing ads created by scammers, which could lead to you being manipulated into providing sensitive data or downloading PUAs or even malware.[2]
Push notification spam[3] has been a growing problem on the internet. There are thousands of websites like this that are copies of each other. There does not seem to be an end to this because they are so easy to reproduce. Every day that a hundred of these pages are caught, a hundred new ones appear with different domain names.
NAME | Scrubheiress.com |
TYPE | Push notification spam; adware |
SYMPTOMS | Ads keep appearing in the corner of the screen or at the top if you are on a mobile |
DISTRIBUTION | Shady websites, installations of free software, or deceptive ads |
DANGERS | Pop-up advertisements can lead to shady websites where users can be tricked into providing their personal information or downloading PUPs and malware |
ELIMINATION | Remove the intrusive push notifications by going to your browser settings, or if it is a PUP, deploying security software |
FURTHER STEPS | FortectIntego should be used for maintenance after removal |
The technique of Scrubheiress.com
Users almost never stumble on pages like this on their own. It is very hard to come across in your search results. The page is promoted on other questionable websites that are filled with deceptive ads and sneaky redirects. For example, illegal streaming platforms usually open a new tab with an ad after about 5 times you click on the play button. If people do not use them often and do not know how they work, they can think that a new window that opened belongs to the same website.
There are a couple of messages you can see when that happens:
Press Allow to verify that you are 18+
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
As you can see, the pages use tasks that are familiar to people to make them look legitimate. But a trustworthy website will never ask you to confirm something to provide you content. Sites do not need permission from you to show a video or let you download a file.
Creators use still images or GIFs to make it look even more believable. People might see a loading screen and think that something is preventing the website from playing it.
Scrubheiress.com ads can come from all kinds of sources which could be dangerous
Users rush and do not realize that the prompt asks them to let the page send push notifications. Of course, after doing that, people do not receive anything; there is no more content to explore. The most likely thing that happens is, users, get redirected to another shady page.
Then ads start appearing possibly from shady sources that want to exploit people. For example, you could see a pop-up saying you need to check your machine for viruses, and after clicking on it, you could end up on a website that is rushing you to install something to take care of a serious threat.
Some advertisements can trigger happy feelings too. Like a notification saying that you just won a new phone, vacation, or cash prize, and all you need to do is fill in your personal information like your name, address, and phone number in order to claim it.
Lucky for you, the removal process of these annoying pop-ups is quite simple. All you have to do is go to your browser settings and block them manually:
Google Chrome (desktop):
- Open Google Chrome browser and go to Menu > Settings.
- Scroll down and click on Advanced.
- Locate the Privacy and security section and pick Site Settings > Notifications.
- Look at the Allow section and look for a suspicious URL.
- Click the three vertical dots next to it and pick Block. This should remove unwanted notifications from Google Chrome.
Google Chrome (Android):
- Open Google Chrome and tap on Settings (three vertical dots).
- Select Notifications.
- Scroll down to Sites section.
- Locate the unwanted URL and toggle the button to the left (Off setting).
Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox and go to Menu > Options.
- Click on Privacy & Security section.
- Under Permissions, you should be able to see Notifications. Click Settings button next to it.
- In the Settings – Notification Permissions window, click on the drop-down menu by the URL in question.
- Select Block and then click on Save Changes. This should remove unwanted notifications from Mozilla Firefox.
Safari:
- Click on Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Websites tab and, under General, select Notifications.
- Select the web address in question, click the drop-down menu and select Deny.
MS Edge:
- Open Microsoft Edge, and click the Settings and more button (three horizontal dots) at the top-right of the window.
- Select Settings and then go to Advanced.
- Under Website permissions, pick Manage permissions and select the URL in question.
- Toggle the switch to the left to turn notifications off on Microsoft Edge.
MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Microsoft Edge, and go to Settings.
- Select Site permissions.
- Go to Notifications on the right.
- Under Allow, you will find the unwanted entry.
- Click on More actions and select Block.
Internet Explorer:
- Open Internet Explorer, and click on the Gear icon at the top-right on the window.
- Select Internet options and go to Privacy tab.
- In the Pop-up Blocker section, click on Settings.
- Locate web address in question under Allowed sites and pick Remove.
Adware and other threats
After doing that, it would be great if you scanned your system with professional security software like SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes. They will detect potentially unwanted programs and malware. They can also warn you about suspicious programs in the future, so you avoid downloading something you do not need in your system.
There are also habits you can implement in your daily routine to minimize the risk of adware[4] infection:
- Avoid unofficial sources that distribute freeware
- Always choose “Custom” or “Advanced” installation methods
- Read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to inform yourself
- Inspect the files included in the installer and uncheck any apps that are unrelated
Visiting shady pages also poses a risk to your privacy as they use cookies to collect various data about your browsing behavior. Your IP address, the websites you visit, purchases you make are what they want to be able to later sell this information to third parties that will use it for advertising to you further.
The collection of cookies and cache can clog your machine and make it perform worse. You can delete all of it automatically with FortectIntego. This software can also fix system errors and corrupted files, so it is good for maintenance.
Below the post, you will find additional instructions on how to clear cookies and cache yourself, reset your browsers or remove programs.
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.
Getting rid of Scrubheiress.com ads. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- 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:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.
Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.
Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data…
- Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content and press Clear.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.
Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.
Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.
Reset Google Chrome:
If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.
Delete from Safari
Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Scrubheiress.com registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting adware
Stream videos without limitations, no matter where you are
There are multiple parties that could find out almost anything about you by checking your online activity. While this is highly unlikely, advertisers and tech companies are constantly tracking you online. The first step to privacy should be a secure browser that focuses on tracker reduction to a minimum.
Even if you employ a secure browser, you will not be able to access websites that are restricted due to local government laws or other reasons. In other words, you may not be able to stream Disney+ or US-based Netflix in some countries. To bypass these restrictions, you can employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN, which provides dedicated servers for torrenting and streaming, not slowing you down in the process.
Data backups are important – recover your lost files
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to personal data. Once it is executed on a machine, it launches a sophisticated encryption algorithm that locks all your files, although it does not destroy them. The most common misconception is that anti-malware software can return files to their previous states. This is not true, however, and data remains locked after the malicious payload is deleted.
While regular data backups are the only secure method to recover your files after a ransomware attack, tools such as Data Recovery Pro can also be effective and restore at least some of your lost data.
- ^ The Beginner’s Guide to Google’s Pay Per Click Advertising. Digital Marketing Institute. PPC and Paid Search.
- ^ Ben Lutkevich. Malware. Tech Target. Search Security. Network security.
- ^ Liliana Sousa. Stop Push Notifications SPAM. Medium. Writers' Hub.
- ^ Lucian Constantin. What is adware? How it works and how to protect against it. CSO Online. Home Security.