Thecliffswith.xyz ads (scam) - Free Guide

What is Thecliffswith.xyz ads?

Thecliffswith.xyz is a fake sports website that provides nothing that it promises

Thecliffswith.xyz is a scam website you should never trust

Thecliffswith.xyz ads might start showing up on your desktop while you do anything online – stream a video, play a browser game, or simply explore websites of your choice. While it might come as a surprise to you, these pop-ups are there because you gave this website permission to do so. Of course, you were likely tricked into doing so, or you did so by accident. This is why so many other users find the appearance of push notifications rather baffling.

From first sight, Thecliffswith.xyz might seem like a regular website that specializes in “the latest sports updates from around the world” – at least it seems so after entering the website's address into the URL bar. If looking closely, there is no relevant information displayed on the site, however. Likewise, this is not the version of the website visitors mostly see after they are redirected from somewhere else.

Users are immediately introduced to two components of the site:

• A background message which tells users to press the allow button due to various fake reasons (typically, it also includes a random picture of some soft);
• A push notification prompt that asks whether users want the notifications to be shown.

Many users fall victims at this point, as website developers use social engineering^[1] tactics in order to make them click the “Allow” button – this is something that happened to you if you are seeing notifications popping up at random times. Most commonly, the activity does not start until much later, which is why people can't connect these two events. It is important to note that you could have also permitted the notifications by accident, which does not change the outcome, unfortunately.

In this article, we will tell you more about how these scams work, how to prevent being a victim looking forward, and ways to ensure that your computer is not infected. Of course, we also provide a detailed removal guide for the intrusive pop-ups to disappear once and for all.

Push notifications often abused by crooks

Push notifications are not malicious – it is a simple API (Application Programming Interface)^[2] that is commonly used by various websites. Indeed, it can be very useful not only for websites but also for users – as long as they are adequately informed within the permission prompt.

Sadly, crooks have a completely different idea of how this feature can be utilized, and they won't skip an opportunity to grab some quick ad revenue from user clicks. In order to make this operation successful, they create websites such as Thecliffswith.xyz – a page that is completely fake and has no other purpose whatsoever.

In order to make the scam believable, fake messages are used that are meant to convince users that the “Allow” button within the notification prompt is something entirely different. Here is one of the most common examples:

Click Allow to watch the video

In other cases, crooks try to imitate the verification process similar to captcha, where users are asked to press the Allow button in order to “confirm they are not robots.” Evidently, these are all fake, and you should simply leave pages that seemingly lock their content behind some type of permissions.

Scam authors use various fake messages to make users click the "Allow" button to enable notifications that later are used to show ads

Once enabled, push notifications can carry all sorts of information, including links. Once clicked, these links can generate pay-per-click revenue and benefit the authors of the website. Please never click on these, as you could be directed to dangerous places and get infected with malware or get tricked into disclosing sensitive user data.

Thecliffswith.xyz removal steps

Many users relate the intrusive activity of push notifications to malware infections. In reality, it has nothing to do with it, since the permission to show them can be acquired from users without them having a virus on their computers. Likewise, the possibility of adware infection should not be immediately dismissed – but more about this in the next section.

As for now, let's get rid of those pesky pop-ups once and for all. Below you will find the instructions for the most relevant browsers; these can be used to allow or block notifications to any other website as well.

Google Chrome:

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.

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 (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.

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 of 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.

Redirects could be a sign of adware

You might be wondering how you ended up on such a scam website in the first place. If you type an address of a website into the omnibar (otherwise known as URL bar), you will always reach the destination correctly. However, when it comes to browser redirects, things change quite a bit.

URL redirection is a typical web browser behavior that usually serves a good function. Malicious actors can employ them to bring users to websites that they would never visit themselves. Most commonly, users are redirected after clicking a link on a website of dubious origin, for example, after clicking a fake download link on a torrents website. Security experts recommend staying away from such dangerous places while browsing the web, as ransomware or other dangerous malware can be lurking there.

In some cases, browser redirects can occur after clicking an empty space or even without users engaging with the website, thanks to automated scripts. In any case, this activity can oftentimes be prevented with adequate security tools or effective adblockers.

In some cases, browser redirects can signify adware infection. This is especially true if you are also dealing with frequent pop-ups, in-text links, banners, auto-play videos, and similar ads on a regular basis while browsing the web. However, you can never know the full capabilities of adware or malware, so you should take adequate steps in order to make sure it is removed if it is installed on your device.

Keep in mind that potentially unwanted programs^[3] and malware often use sneaky distribution tactics, hence you might not even know they are there. To detect these unwanted and dangerous programs, you should scan your computer with powerful security software, such as SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes. It can eliminate all the malicious components for you automatically, ensuring your personal safety and computer security.

You should also clean your web browsers to remove cookies and other trackers. Besides, in some cases, this might not be possible without a browser reset. You can find all the details below, although you can instead employ an automatic solution for this – FortectIntego. The app can also serve you as a tool that can fix virus damage once it is removed from your system and clean junk files, ensuring that your system is running at peak performance.