wholefreshstories.com is a deceptive website that tries to trick users into allowing ads on the desktop. The site misuses a legitimate browser feature to do this, so as soon as you are redirected to the site, you will see a browser alert saying “wholefreshstories.com wants to show notifications”. Do not allow these notifications because your screen will be spammed with ads.
The website prompts the browser to display an alert that asks you to allow wholefreshstories.com to show notifications. This is a legitimate feature but deceptive websites often misuse it. If you click “Allow”, the site will be authorized to spam unwanted ads to your desktop. These ads might look like legitimate system notifications and appear in a similar location, which can be confusing and lead users to interact with them. However, interacting with these notifications could expose you to harmful content, including scams and malicious threats.
If you were tricked into giving wholefreshstories.com permission, you can easily revoke it in your browser’s settings. We have prepared instructions at the end of the report if you need help with navigating your browser’s settings.
Why are you redirected to sites like wholefreshstories.com?
If you are being redirected to sites like wholefreshstories.com, it’s likely happening for one of two reasons. In some cases, redirects may be triggered by adware. However, more commonly, users are redirected when visiting high-risk websites that have a lot of advertising content. Particularly, sites with pirated or pornographic content tend to have a lot of ads. Clicking on anything on those sites can often lead to a redirect. Fortunately, both ads and redirects can be easily blocked with any decent adblocker program.
Redirects to wholefreshstories.com may also indicate an adware infection. These types of infections are often unintentionally installed by users via the software bundling method. Adware infections can be bundled with popular free programs as additional offers, and they are set to be installed alongside the programs they’re attached to automatically, without requiring explicit permission from the user.
It’s important to note that while additional offers are technically optional, they need to be manually deselected to prevent their installation. These offers are often hidden in settings that users don’t normally use, so many people don’t notice them. This is why software bundling is considered to be a controversial installation method.
These offers are always optional. If you pay attention when installing free programs, you can avoid these unwanted installations. When installing, choose Advanced (Custom) settings instead of Default (Basic). The installation window will recommend using Default settings, but if you follow this advice, all added offers will be authorized to install alongside without your explicit permission. But Advanced (Custom) settings will clearly display all added offers and allow you to deselect everything that has been added. It’s never a good idea to install added offers, even if they initially seem useful.
No legitimate program will use software bundling to install. Those that do are usually detected as potential threats by antivirus programs. If you are not careful when installing free programs, you will fill your computer with junk like adware in no time.
How to stop wholefreshstories.com notifications?
We highly recommend scanning your computer with an anti-virus program to check for adware infections. Adware can be difficult to remove manually, and using an anti-virus program would be the easiest solution. If you want to prevent future redirects and random ads, make sure to install a good adblocker program.
If you have given permission to wholefreshstories.com to show you notifications, you can revoke this permission in your browser’s settings. This is not difficult to do, and you can use the instructions provided below if you need help.
Review all sites that have permission to show notifications, and remove wholefreshstories.com and any others that you do not recognize. If you do not intend to use this feature, you can also turn off notification requests altogether.
If you have given the site permission to show notifications, here’s how to revoke it:
- Mozilla Firefox: Open the menu (the three bars at the top-right corner), click Options, then Privacy & Security. Scroll down to Permissions, press Settings next to Notifications, and remove wholefreshstories.com and any other questionable websites from the list. It’s possible to permanently turn off push notification requests by checking the “Block new requests asking to allow notifications” box in the same Notifications settings.
- Google Chrome: Open the menu (the three dots top-right corner), then Settings, then Privacy and security, then Site Settings. Click on Notifications under Permissions, and remove wholefreshstories.com and any other questionable websites from the list. It’s possible to permanently turn off push notification requests by toggling off “Sites can ask to send notifications”.
- Microsoft Edge: Open the menu (the three dots top-right corner), then Settings, then Cookies and site permissions, then Notifications. Review which sites have permission and remove wholefreshstories.com and any other questionable websites from the list. It’s possible to permanently turn off push notification requests by toggling off “Ask before sending”.
Site Disclaimer
2-remove-virus.com is not sponsored, owned, affiliated, or linked to malware developers or distributors that are referenced in this article. The article does not promote or endorse any type of malware. We aim at providing useful information that will help computer users to detect and eliminate the unwanted malicious programs from their computers. This can be done manually by following the instructions presented in the article or automatically by implementing the suggested anti-malware tools.
The article is only meant to be used for educational purposes. If you follow the instructions given in the article, you agree to be contracted by the disclaimer. We do not guarantee that the artcile will present you with a solution that removes the malign threats completely. Malware changes constantly, which is why, in some cases, it may be difficult to clean the computer fully by using only the manual removal instructions.