Hi JAMESNYE

 

Welcome to the Community Forums.

 

WSA does not include a blocker for Ad-related popups...it does look to block/deal with PUAs (Potentially Unwanted Apps) that are responsible for now browser-related popups, such as the scam  attempt that you are referring to.

 

In the case of the former I would recommend that you check out free addons/extensiosn the approrpiate one depending on which browser you use (suggestions include for (i) Firefox - AdBlockPlus or ADBlock Edge, (ii) Chrome or Chrome derivatives - uBlock...my personal favourite, but AdBlock Plus & Edge are also avaialble, etc.).  If you would like to know more about how to get hold of these for a specific browser then please post back and we will do our best to point you in the right direction.

 

In the case of the latter, and specifically in the case you mention NO reputable service or app provider would contact you in the way that you have been here and that is clearly a SCAM as you have advised.  But it is clearly not malware, and whilst these PUAs very annoying they are not actually doing anything bad like damaging files or stealing information. Often they are installed intentionally by you the user as browser add-ons for various tasks such as quick search tools. But they also come with the result of added annoying pop-ups and ads. Other times they 'piggy back' with other software that you installed, or try to 'sneak' onto your system entirely.

 

WSA does detect and remove many PUA's, and more are being added, but WSA does not detect all of them. A simple browser add-on with PUA behaviour that is easy to identify and easy to remove is not likely to be detected and removed by WSA. Those that are intentionally difficult to locate and remove are. Please see THIS LINK for more information regarding Webroot's stance on these annoying programs.

 

The best thing to do is to submit a Trouble Ticket and ask Webroot Support to take a look and remove these for you.  There is NO CHARGE for this for valid WSA license holder.

 

Also, we have had a lot of discussion regarding these recently, and one of our gurus @ has posted an Idea for Webroot to consider asking them to increase PUA detection.  The more users that need help removing a particular PUA the more likely and faster that PUA will be added to detection.

 

I hope this helps?

 

Regards, Baldrick

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