captchaless.top is a deceptive website that pushes a social engineering scam to trick users into allowing ads on their desktops. When you get redirected to the site, you will get a browser notification saying “captchaless.top wants to show notifications”. If you give it permission, the site will start spamming your desktop with all kinds of ads. The ads will not only be annoying but also potentially dangerous because you could be exposed to malware and scams. Fortunately, revoking this permission to show notifications is not difficult.
When you get redirected to captchaless.top, you will be greeted with a message asking you to confirm you’re not a robot by allowing captchaless.top to show notifications. A browser notification will pop up saying “captchaless.top wants to show notifications”. This is actually a legitimate browser feature that allows sites with permission to show useful notifications on their desktops. For example, for users who frequently read the news, it may be useful to allow a news site to show notifications. Notifications containing important news would appear on the desktop, and clicking on them would take users directly to the content. So in some cases, this can be a useful feature.
However, sites like captchaless.top misuse this feature to spam users with questionable ads. If you allow questionable sites to show push notifications, your desktop will be spammed with ads. You can easily revoke that permission but until you do, you will see various scam offers as well as questionable program ads. Some notifications may purposely be made to look like legitimate system alerts to confuse users. You need to be careful to not click on the notifications because you could be taken to websites that promote scams or hide malware.
If you get redirected to captchaless.top or a similar site once, it’s nothing to worry about. You should install an adblocker program but other than that, you don’t need to do anything. However, if the redirects are happening constantly, your computer may have adware installed. And if you have given the site permission to show notifications, you need to revoke it sooner rather than later. If you don’t know what to do, you can use the directions provided at the very end of the report.
Constant redirects to sites like captchaless.top could mean an adware infection
There are a few reasons why you can find yourself redirected to scam websites like captchaless.top. Typically, it happens when users browse risky websites that host questionable ads. A lot of websites could be categorized as high-risk because the advertisements they expose users to could redirect them to potentially harmful content. For example, sites that have pornographic and/or pirated content often expose users to various scams so they’re classified as high-risk websites. However, a good adblocker program usually takes care of both redirects and intrusive ads.
Redirects to random sites can also be triggered by an adware infection. Adware is a relatively mild infection that mostly subjects users to ads. Because it does not directly harm computers, adware isn’t considered to be particularly dangerous. Infections like adware and browser hijackers usually install via the software bundling method, which essentially allows them to be attached to free software as extra offers. The offers are preselected to install alongside the programs they’re attached to automatically. Technically, the offers are optional and can be deselected, but because they are hidden, users often simply don’t notice them. Evidently, it’s a rather controversial installation method, which is why it’s not uncommon for programs that use software bundling to be detected as potential threats by anti-virus programs.
As we’ve already mentioned, the offers are optional so you can deselect them. All you need to do is use Advanced (Custom) settings when installing free programs. The installation window will recommend using Default settings but if you do that, all added offers will be hidden and permitted to install alongside. Advanced settings, on the other hand, will make all offers visible. You will also have the option to deselect all of them. It is typically recommended to deselect all offers because you won’t benefit from them. They merely occupy space on computers and make problems. Furthermore, once the offers are installed, they can be annoying to get rid of. It’s much easier to uncheck a couple of boxes when installing programs than it is to remove infections like adware once they’re fully installed.
captchaless.top removal
If you were tricked into giving captchaless.top permission to show push notifications on your desktop, you need to revoke that permission. You can do that in your browser’s settings. If you don’t know what to do, use the directions provided right below.
- If you use Mozilla Firefox: Open menu (the three bars top-right corner) -> Options -> Privacy & Security. Scroll down to Permissions, press on Settings next to Notifications, and remove captchaless.top and any other questionable websites. If you check the box that says “Block new requests asking to allow notifications”, you will not see push notification requests in the future.
- If you use Google Chrome: Open menu (the three dots top-right corner) -> Settings -> Privacy and security -> Site Settings. Click on Notifications under Permissions, and remove captchaless.top and any other questionable websites. If you toggle off the box that says “Sites can ask to send notifications”, you will not see push notification requests in the future.
- If you use Microsoft Edge: Open menu (the three dots top-right corner) -> Settings -> Cookies and site permissions -> Notifications. Review which sites have permission and remove captchaless.top and any other questionable websites. If you toggle off the box that says “Ask before sending”, you will not see push notification requests in the future.
If you are redirected to sites like captchaless.top regularly, your computer may have adware installed on it. While it’s not a serious infection, adware should be removed using anti-virus programs. These kinds of infections can be pretty persistent so using a professional program is recommended. Once the adware is gone, you should no longer be redirected.
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.