Setonna.com ads (spam) - Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

What is Setonna.com ads?

Setonna.com hopes you will click the “Allow” button without thinking

Setonna.com preys on people with minimal technology knowledge

Setonna.com is a bogus website that relies on people clicking the “Allow” button to give permission for push notifications to show up on their screen. A friendly-looking robot is displayed on the page with a message “Click “Allow” if you are not a robot”. In the corner of the screen, there is an E-CAPTCHA writing with a logo. It is clear that the website wants to mislead people into thinking they are just performing a standard procedure by confirming they are human and not a bot.^[1]

This is done in order to get you to subscribe to push notifications and then spam you with pop-up ads. The worrying part is, the authors of the page do not care about user privacy or security so they do not blacklist fishy advertisements. Some of the links embedded in the notification prompts can lead to questionable websites where users can be taken advantage of and be tricked into providing their personal information or installing potentially unwanted programs^[2] and even malware.

The appearance of pop-up spam is often confused with a virus infection

Because pop-up ads appear suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, many people think that they have been infected with a computer virus. That is not true in most cases, as push notifications are based on a subscription model, only users themselves can allow them. Of course, there are cases of adware infections that cause pop-ups, but besides that, users experience other symptoms too, like redirects and an increased amount of commercial content like banners, surveys, etc.

Besides having to “confirm that you are not a robot” you might also see messages saying:

• Click Allow to verify that you are 18+
• Click Allow to watch the video
• Download is ready. Click Allow to download your file

Payouts from the pay-per-click advertising model,^[3] keep these individuals motivated to come up with new ways to fool users, so you should never let your guard down.

Setonna.com makes money with push notifications

It is important to learn how you got here in the first place, to avoid this issue in the future. The truth is, that usually, people do not find websites like Setonna.com in their search results. You were probably surfing through already shady pages filled with deceptive ads and sneaky redirects. It is a common misconception that the Internet is a completely safe space and viruses are a thing of the past. But it is actually the opposite – online fraudster and cybercriminals activity has been on the rise especially since the pandemic started.

You should not go clicking on random links and buttons. There are never too many precautionary steps you can take. As we said before, sometimes pop-up ads can be caused by adware and that happens when people install freeware from unofficial sources. People rush through the installation process because they think there is nothing to see there and they find it exhausting. However, you should pay attention if you do not want bigger problems in the future.

Social engineering techniques^[4] are common among online fraudsters. They prey on not very tech-savvy people and try to use human vulnerabilities against them. Fake software updates, giveaways, paid surveys, threat warnings can be often found on shady sites that are unregulated, and it is sad to say that still a big chink of people fall into the traps.

Block push notifications

Because push notifications are based on a subscription model, users need to disable them manually, the same way they allowed them. If you do not know how, here are the instructions for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, MS Edge, Internet Explorer:

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.

Almost all websites nowadays require you to accept cookies by throwing a big prompt in your face obstructing the view. Frustrated, many just click “Accept” because they want to proceed as quickly as possible. Because you experienced pop-up spam without knowing, there is a big chance you were browsing through questionable sites that could still be tracking your browsing activity like the websites you visit, links you click on, things you type in the search, and what you purchase.

After you have successfully disabled push notifications, we recommend using a repair tool like FortectIntego, which can automatically clear your browsers from cookies and cache, clear up space, fix corrupted files, system errors and optimize the performance of the device.

Scan your system for adware

As we said at the beginning of this article, there are instances where users can be infected with adware that performs tasks in the background without the users' knowledge. Because there is no way of knowing which specific app is causing this annoying behavior, we always suggest our readers use professional security tools like SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes to scan their PCs. Anti-malware tools can detect suspicious programs that are active in the background and eliminate them completely with all the related files.

How not to install a PUP:

• Always choose “Custom” or “Advanced” installation methods
• Read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
• Check the file list and untick the boxes next to file names that seem to be out of place

Manual guides on PUP removal for Windows and Mac machines are below this blog.

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.