Smart Captcha Solve ads (scam) - Free Guide

Smart Captcha Solve ads Removal Guide

What is Smart Captcha Solve ads?

Smartcaptchasolve.top is a malicious website designed to scam users

Smart Captcha SolveSmart Captcha Solve pop-ups show up sometime later after the "Allow" button within the notification prompt is clicked

Recently, many users started complaining about Smart Captcha Solve ads showing up on their desktops at random times. The pop-ups are shown on top of the browser or even any other apps running at that time, which can interrupt whatever people are doing, be it working, gaming, or watching a video.

Initially, many users become suspicious of a virus, as the activity is very intrusive, and pop-ups are commonly associated with a computer infection. However, if the notifications are shown at the bottom-right (or top-right on Macs) of the screen, and are also marked with Smartcaptchasolve.top web address, it is likely that permission was granted to the site to deliver notifications in the first place.

Most commonly, users are tricked into doing so due to deceptive messages that they encounter on scam websites. Alternatively, it could be that the permission was granted by accidentally clicking the “Allow” button with the notification prompt. Regardless, this issue can easily be fixed – all users have to do is change some options within their browser settings, be it Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, Safari, or any other search tool.

Note that, while this particular activity is not caused by a virus, you should not dismiss the possibility that adware[1] could be hiding on your system. Thus, in addition to removing the push notifications from your screen, you should also perform adequate checks to ensure that your system is free of infections.

Name Smart Captcha Solve, Smartcaptchasolve.top
Type Push notifications, ads, scam
Distribution As soon as the “Allow” button is pressed within the notification prompt upon the site entry
Symptoms Pop-up ads show up on the desktop at random times
Risks Ads and links to sites displayed by the website might be dangerous. Users might suffer from financial losses, disclose their sensitive information to unknown parties or install malware/PUPs on their systems
Termination Notifications can be disabled via the browser settings; in case you experience more ads and redirects to suspicious sites, you should also remove adware – use SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or another reputable software for that
Recovery Cleaning web browsers is just as important when dealing with potentially unwanted programs. You can do that manually as per instructions or use an automatic solution FortectIntego

What is the push notification feature and how crooks abuse it

The push notification feature was first introduced by Apple over a decade ago – it allowed users to receive relevant/interesting information on top of other apps, making it much more noticeable. The function was quickly adapted by other operating systems and applications, including web browsers.

While initially, the push notification feature was not commonly employed by websites, it was soon noticed as a great interactive addition that could be useful for both parties. This is why you now see almost every entertainment or other type of site offering you to receive notifications if you visit it for the first time.

Of course, you are free to deny this offer and, as long as you don't reset your browsers, the website will remember and respect your choice. Unfortunately, there are plenty of websites that are created for this only reason – to make users permit the notifications to be shown. The main goal is to send users sponsored links and ads so that they could earn free revenue from user clicks on these ads.

For that, crooks use various scam techniques, also known as social engineering[2] attacks. The main goal is to make users think that the notification prompt is something else – they use falsified information on the particularly crafted website, for example, Smartcaptchasolve.top, Liffsandupa.xyz, Romancedating.top, or similar.

Smart Captcha Solve adsFrequent redirects to suspicious websites might be caused by adware

In fact, most of these websites use identical phrases and background pictures so, once you get familiar with a few of them, you will recognize them the next time. Below you can see a few examples you could encounter after accessing a malicious website that tries to scam you into subscribing:

  • Click Allow if you are not a robot
  • If you are 18+, tap allow
  • Click Allow to continue
  • Your download is ready. Click Allow!
  • Press Allow to watch the video, etc.

As evident, none of these messages have anything reputable or legitimate about them. In fact, pressing “Block” would only forward you to another website of similar content, so you should not interact with the notification prompt at all and simply leave immediately.

Next time you encounter a website that tries to lock its content behind some type of verification, leave it immediately and do not interact with it. If you have been already scammed, you can undo this decision easily – just follow our guide below.

Stop a website from sending you notifications with these easy steps

Those who want to remove Smart Captcha Solve ads usually start scanning their devices with security software. Unfortunately, that does not fix the problem for users, and they continue to receive intrusive pop-ups which disturb online activities constantly.

Since people are tricked into subscribing to notifications in the first place and have not previously dealt with them, they are confused and don't understand what's happening. It does not help that the pop-ups don't show up straight away but rather much later when the website was closed down a long time ago.

This confusion is understandable, and malicious actors are abusing this fact – new scam websites are coming to life every day. If you have been a victim of such a scam, you should learn how to stop these notifications from being shown to you – here's how:

Google Chrome

  • Select Menu > Settings > Advanced.
  • Click on Site Settings > Notifications.
  • Check the Allow section and find the address of the site.
  • Select More Actions and pick Block.Stop notifications on Chrome PC 2

Mozilla Firefox:

  • Go to Menu and then select Options.
  • Go to Privacy & Security > Notifications > Settings.
  • Choose Block after picking this option from the drop-down menu.
  • Confirm with Save Changes.Stop notifications on Mozilla Firefox 2

MS Edge (Chromium)

  • Go to Menu and pick Settings.
  • Select Site permissions.
  • Click on Notifications.
  • Find the site URL, and click More actions.
  • Pick Block.Stop notifications on Edge Chromium

MS Edge (legacy):

  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.Stop notifications on Edge 2

Safari

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

Adware might cause unexpected redirects

Essentially, potentially unwanted programs or malware have nothing to do with push notification activity itself. These are two independent issues that should be taken care of differently. If you have already removed the push notifications from the annoying websites, you are not yet done with dealing with this problem.

Security experts[3] strongly advise users who do become victims of online scams to make sure that there is no malicious software installed on their systems. For example, adware is known to specialize in the display of pop-ups and other types of ads, although more aggressive adware might also cause browser redirects to malicious websites.

One of the main reasons why you might not know about adware residing on your system is its distribution methods. In most cases, PUPs are delivered via a software bundle package downloaded from a third-party website. Thus, if you have recently installed software from suspicious sources carelessly, you should definitely uninstall it.

This process might become more difficult when there are many applications installed on your system. Besides, some of them might not disclose their suspicious behavior until much later. Adware can also come in the form of a browser extension, so this section should be checked as well.

If you wish to get rid of adware or other malicious software quickly, we strongly recommend you scan your device with SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner. Malwarebytes, or another reputable anti-malware. The scan barely takes a few minutes, and you can then rest assured that there is malware stealing your personal information in the background or that other viruses are being installed without our knowledge.

Finally, please take the time to clean your browsers properly, especially if the potentially unwanted application was a browser extension. Browser caches might cause prolonged ad activity, and cookies might be used for data tracking. You can clean your browsers as we explain below or perform it much quicker with a FortectIntego PC repair and maintenance utility.

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Compatible with Microsoft Windows Compatible with macOS
What to do if failed?
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Fortect Intego has a free limited scanner. Fortect Intego offers more through scan when you purchase its full version. When free scanner detects issues, you can fix them using free manual repairs or you can decide to purchase the full version in order to fix them automatically.
Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Fortect, try running SpyHunter 5.
Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Intego, try running Combo Cleaner.

Getting rid of Smart Captcha Solve ads. Follow these steps

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. 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. Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data. Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. 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:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings. Reset Chrome 2

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click on Uninstall at the bottom. Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select everything (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear. Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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. Reset MS Edge

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.

  1. Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
  2. Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
  3. Right-click on them and pick Delete Advanced MS Edge reset 1
  4. Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
  5. 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 Advanced MS Edge reset 2

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove. Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now. Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. On the left side, pick Reset settings.
  3. Select Restore settings to their default values.
  4. Confirm with Reset. Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select unwanted plugin and click Remove. Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Options.
  3. Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data…
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content and press Clear. Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information. Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox. Reset Firefox 2

Delete from Safari

Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
  3. Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall. Remove extensions from Safari

Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Clear History…
  2. From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
  3. Confirm with Clear History. Clear cookies and website data from Safari

Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. Go to Advanced tab.
  3. Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  4. From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches. Reset Safari

How to prevent from getting adware

Choose a proper web browser and improve your safety with a VPN tool

Online spying has got momentum in recent years and people are getting more and more interested in how to protect their privacy online. One of the basic means to add a layer of security – choose the most private and secure web browser. Although web browsers can't grant full privacy protection and security, some of them are much better at sandboxing, HTTPS upgrading, active content blocking, tracking blocking, phishing protection, and similar privacy-oriented features. However, if you want true anonymity, we suggest you employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN – it can encrypt all the traffic that comes and goes out of your computer, preventing tracking completely.

 

Lost your files? Use data recovery software

While some files located on any computer are replaceable or useless, others can be extremely valuable. Family photos, work documents, school projects – these are types of files that we don't want to lose. Unfortunately, there are many ways how unexpected data loss can occur: power cuts, Blue Screen of Death errors, hardware failures, crypto-malware attack, or even accidental deletion.

To ensure that all the files remain intact, you should prepare regular data backups. You can choose cloud-based or physical copies you could restore from later in case of a disaster. If your backups were lost as well or you never bothered to prepare any, Data Recovery Pro can be your only hope to retrieve your invaluable files.

About the author
Ugnius Kiguolis
Ugnius Kiguolis - The mastermind

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