Ads and pop-ups that will not go away
Get rid of a frightening warning safely, and take away the permission that let it appear in the first place.
A red page appears saying viruses have been found, giving a telephone number, and telling you not to turn the computer off. Every part of that is the trap.
It is a web page. It is printed on the screen the same way a newspaper article is, and it knows nothing whatever about your computer. It cannot see inside it. The pictures of scanning progress are a drawing.
Your computer does warn you sometimes, and the difference is not subtle once you have seen both.
Key points
- Close a frightening page without pressing anything inside it
- Take back the notification permission that let it appear
- Tell a real warning from a page dressed up as one, by looking for a telephone number
- Restart, rather than ring, when a page refuses to go
What to remember
- These arrive because a site was once allowed to send notifications. Taking that back is four presses.
- A telephone number on a warning is proof it is fake. Every time, without exception.
Try this
Open your browser settings and look at the Notifications list. Most people find a site they have never heard of. Block those, keep the rest. Two minutes, and it is the commonest source of alarming messages there is.
Practice: Ads and pop-ups that will not go away. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.