I keep getting pop up messages that my computer is infected with a virus and to call a phone number. I am sure this is a scan but shouldn't my webroot security program keep these messages from coming thru?
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Hi bkmiller118
Welcome to the Community Forums.
You are quite correct in that it is most likely a scam as no reputable company will behave in this way...so well done for not falling for it.
What is most likely causing this is a non-malware program we commonly refer to as a PUA or Potentially Unwanted Application.
These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-ups, redirect your browser home page, and other behaviour that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but 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.
The key to avoiding them is to make sure that when downloading apps one does so from the author's own website or one that they have recommended, and not 3rd party downloading site.
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.
To make sure that your WSA is checking for PUA's with the best proficiently, it sometimes helps to reset the PUA detection within WSA's settings. For PUA's that had previously been scanned and determined to be OK, but have since been added to detection/removal, you may want to complete the following steps:
And if that does not work or you do not feel technically capable then the best thing to do is to Open a Support Ticket & ask Webroot Support to take a look and remove these for you. There is NO CHARGE for this for valid WSA license holders.
Hope that this helps?
Regards, Baldrick
Welcome to the Community Forums.
You are quite correct in that it is most likely a scam as no reputable company will behave in this way...so well done for not falling for it.
What is most likely causing this is a non-malware program we commonly refer to as a PUA or Potentially Unwanted Application.
These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-ups, redirect your browser home page, and other behaviour that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but 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.
The key to avoiding them is to make sure that when downloading apps one does so from the author's own website or one that they have recommended, and not 3rd party downloading site.
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.
To make sure that your WSA is checking for PUA's with the best proficiently, it sometimes helps to reset the PUA detection within WSA's settings. For PUA's that had previously been scanned and determined to be OK, but have since been added to detection/removal, you may want to complete the following steps:
- Open Webroot SecureAnywhere
- Click on ‘Advanced Settings’ from the top right
- Select ‘Scan Settings’ from the left side
- Unselect the option “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
- Click on the Save button (you may have to enter in a CAPTCHA)
- Reselect the option to “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications”
- Click on the Save button
- Run another scan with Webroot and remove any items that get detected.
And if that does not work or you do not feel technically capable then the best thing to do is to Open a Support Ticket & ask Webroot Support to take a look and remove these for you. There is NO CHARGE for this for valid WSA license holders.
Hope that this helps?
Regards, Baldrick
Baldrick has some good steps above to detect programs which might be causing this to happen.
Do you think the popup surfaced because of a specific site you were browsing?
If you send to us the site that is displaying the popup, we can have it blocked!
Do you think the popup surfaced because of a specific site you were browsing?
If you send to us the site that is displaying the popup, we can have it blocked!
Hi JesseBropez
Welcome to the Community Forums.
Thanks for the attempt to help...but you are incorrect...we cannot have it blocked. Only the Threat Researcher at Webroot can black list sites, and in this case that would serve no purpose as the whole thing is most likely engineered by a PUA, hence why I responded the way I did.If it was just a case of reporting a site for black listing I would have suggested something else.
Regards, Baldrick
Welcome to the Community Forums.
Thanks for the attempt to help...but you are incorrect...we cannot have it blocked. Only the Threat Researcher at Webroot can black list sites, and in this case that would serve no purpose as the whole thing is most likely engineered by a PUA, hence why I responded the way I did.If it was just a case of reporting a site for black listing I would have suggested something else.
Regards, Baldrick
I work for Webroot as well, and I am on the AMR team (the team which handles these cases and other specifically).
These popups are mostly caused by specific browsing behaviours, but may also be caused by potentially unwanted software.
To distinguise the difference, you can try to browse the web like normal. If you encounter unwanted ads or redirects, then you most likely have adware or PUA on your system. If this was the first time a popup surfaced, it was most likely caused by a mistyped URL or mousing over an advertisement.
These popups are mostly caused by specific browsing behaviours, but may also be caused by potentially unwanted software.
To distinguise the difference, you can try to browse the web like normal. If you encounter unwanted ads or redirects, then you most likely have adware or PUA on your system. If this was the first time a popup surfaced, it was most likely caused by a mistyped URL or mousing over an advertisement.
Well, Jesse, it would be good if you declared that when posting initially.
We have seen a number of cases that have been caused by PUAs as well as 'specific browsing behaviours' but either way we, here in the Community, cannot get anything blocked per se...given that we are just volunteers...and that is why the recommendation was that the OP contact Support via the Ticketing System.
EDIT: And in response to your further EDIT, that is the way that we nornally proceed, i.e., ask the questions as to when the popups manifest themselves, etc., but in this case there did not need to be the need.
Regards, Baldrick
We have seen a number of cases that have been caused by PUAs as well as 'specific browsing behaviours' but either way we, here in the Community, cannot get anything blocked per se...given that we are just volunteers...and that is why the recommendation was that the OP contact Support via the Ticketing System.
EDIT: And in response to your further EDIT, that is the way that we nornally proceed, i.e., ask the questions as to when the popups manifest themselves, etc., but in this case there did not need to be the need.
Regards, Baldrick
Baldrick,
Thank you for clarifying. I joined the community today to see if I could help out a bit.
You can request a brightcloud reputation change:
http://www.brightcloud.com/tools/url-ip-lookup.php
bk, please do contact us so we may investigate further!
Thank you for clarifying. I joined the community today to see if I could help out a bit.
You can request a brightcloud reputation change:
http://www.brightcloud.com/tools/url-ip-lookup.php
bk, please do contact us so we may investigate further!
Hi Jesse
Well, again...welcome to the Community Forums.
It is always good to have Webrooters (Staff) stop by and assist...although I believe that Community protocol recommends that your avatar indicates that you are Webroot Staff...if you need to check that out I would recommend you having a word with ?...but that may just be me misunderstaning things so I am sure that Nic will clear that up.
We do suggest the BrightCloud route in some cases, as well as the use of this site for reporting back to Webroot for a number of potential issues.
Hopefully, bk will open that support ticket as recommended and get the first class help that the Webroot Support Team are renown for...:D
Regards, Baldrick
Well, again...welcome to the Community Forums.
It is always good to have Webrooters (Staff) stop by and assist...although I believe that Community protocol recommends that your avatar indicates that you are Webroot Staff...if you need to check that out I would recommend you having a word with ?...but that may just be me misunderstaning things so I am sure that Nic will clear that up.
We do suggest the BrightCloud route in some cases, as well as the use of this site for reporting back to Webroot for a number of potential issues.
Hopefully, bk will open that support ticket as recommended and get the first class help that the Webroot Support Team are renown for...:D
Regards, Baldrick
Hello JesseBropez,
Welcome to the Webroot Community,
It's nice to have you here!:D
Welcome to the Webroot Community,
It's nice to have you here!:D
Hello Jesse and Welcome to the Webroot Community!
I'm glad you took my advice and joined the forum and thanks for your help now and for the future!
Cheers,
Daniel 😉
I'm glad you took my advice and joined the forum and thanks for your help now and for the future!
Cheers,
Daniel 😉
Jesse contacted me and we got it taken care of - thanks Baldrick!@ wrote:
Hi Jesse
Well, again...welcome to the Community Forums.
It is always good to have Webrooters (Staff) stop by and assist...although I believe that Community protocol recommends that your avatar indicates that you are Webroot Staff...if you need to check that out I would recommend you having a word with@ ...but that may just be me misunderstaning things so I am sure that Nic will clear that up.
We do suggest the BrightCloud route in some cases, as well as the use of this site for reporting back to Webroot for a number of potential issues.
Hopefully, bk will open that support ticket as recommended and get the first class help that the Webroot Support Team are renown for...:D
Regards, Baldrick
Thank, Nic...good to know. It always helps to know when we have Webroot Staff pitching in so that i f necesary we can withdraw when the professionals are on the case...;)
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