Advertising Spam - "Click Allow to win a prize" - How to remove

“Click Allow to win a prize” is a phrase used by malicious sites to trick people into subscribing to their notifications which will be used to show pop-up ads.

If you come across a “Click Allow to win a prize” site, close it, as it’s just an ad spammer. If you gave a “Click Allow to win a prize” site access to your notifications and are now seeing unwanted pop-ups, you can block them in your browser settings.

In short about “Click Allow to win a prize” sites:

Threat type	Adware.
How to stop ads by “Click Allow to win a prize” pages	Block notification permissions from sites that abuse them, remove all malware from your computer (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others).
Dangers of “Click Allow to win a prize” ads	Annoying and distracting ads, harmful ads that lead to malware and scam sites.
How to avoid ad spam	Be very careful on sites that show aggressive ads, don’t interact with suspicious sites, use anti-malware tools to block malicious sites.

How to block unwanted ads

Block notifications

The “Click Allow to win a prize” phrase is a lure used by malicious sites. Falling for it results in those malicious sites getting access to your browser’s notifications.

Sites like Bestbettin.xyz, Bitcoinday.xyz, Extranew.xyz, and dozens of others use it (as well as other deceptive designs) to get visitors to click the Allow button on the “Show notifications” prompt.

To stop the unwanted ads, you just need to revoke notification permissions. Open your browser:

• Chrome – type “chrome://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.
• Safari – in the Safari menu, choose Preferences, Websites, Notifications.
• Firefox – open Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down to Permissions, and click on Settings next to Notifications.
• Edge (Chromium) – type “edge://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.

Find suspicious and unfamiliar site addresses, open the menus next to these addresses, and select the Block option.

Remove malware

“Click Allow to win a prize” sites advertise and are advertised by adware and dangerous websites.

Scan your device with antivirus programs, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others. Remove programs and browser extensions that are detected as malware.

How “Click Allow to win a prize” hijacks notifications

Notifications can be useful

If a site wants to send out notifications, it can ask your web browser to show a little pop-up in the upper left that says that the site “wants to show notifications” and gives you the options to Allow, Block, or close the message.

The Allow in “Click Allow to win a prize” refers to a button in this message. Clicking it enables the asking site to have your browser show pop-up messages on your screen.

Web push notifications are very useful for delivering urgent messages from a website to your device. A note about a new email or a new private message can be seen by you even when you don’t have the relevant website open. Some legitimate sites occasionally send ads in notifications.

Ad spammers lie to visitors

Then there are notification spammers – sites like Mediakick.biz, Notify-service.com, and others. They have no content. All that they do is trick people into subscribing to their notifications and send out ads.

These sites use a few different phrases and designs to basically say “click the Allow button!”:

• “You won a new iPhone X
  Click Allow to confirm”
• “Click “Allow” to win a prize and get it in our shop!”
• “Click “Allow” to win a prize and pick up in our store!”
• “Congratulations! You’ve got a $ 50 gift card! It’s time to go shopping!”

They’re all lying – there’s no prize. You don’t need to feel like you’re missing out on something if you don’t subscribe.

Notification hijackers are always trying to trick people. Besides the “Click Allow to win a prize” template, they also show fake age checks, download links, video and audio players, loading bars, and other images. And they always ask or imply that you have to click the “Allow” button to proceed.

How to avoid notification spam

Block notifications and malicious ads

Disable notification prompts to prevent sites from abusing them. Sites that say “Click Allow to win a prize” will still be displayed, but they won’t be able to show the notification request.

You will still be able to allow individual sites to send messages by manually adding them to your Allowed list.

You can also get an anti-malware tool and/or an ad blocker to block some ads and malicious sites.

Close dangerous websites

Ads for “Click Allow to win a prize” sites are likely to show up on old, abandoned sites, as well as on infringing streaming (pirate) sites. While on those sites, be aware of the possibility of deceptive ads. Always check what tabs you have open. If you find yourself on an unknown and untrustworthy site, don’t interact with it – just close it.

If the “Click Allow to win a prize” message won’t go away, if you have difficulty closing the page, check our post on how to deal with webpages that lock your browser.

Dangers of the “Click Allow to win a prize” scam

Deceptive notifications

Some of the ads shown by “Click Allow to win a prize” pages may resemble security warnings, personal message updates, friend requests – even when their content is completely unrelated. The Google Chrome development team calls these ads abusive notifications. In theory, abusive notifications should be automatically suppressed. But there are still many malicious sites, including the “Click Allow to win a prize” ones, that are not affected.

Ads that lead to malicious sites

Pages that use the “Click Allow to win a prize” template are dangerous in the same way that spam email is dangerous:

• Low-quality and harmful products are advertised. Some of them lead to scams and malware.
• Notification spam is distracting and bad for productivity. Also, some unwanted ads may be explicit, which can be awkward if someone else sees your screen.

While some of the ads that notification spammers show are safe, there is usually a high proportion of unsafe ads. The “Click Allow to win a prize” sites take money from advertisers and they likely have little or no concern for ad safety. So, scammers and malicious actors can advertise on “Click Allow to win a prize” much easier than on normal sites.

It’s worth noting that the “Click Allow to win a prize” scam is slightly different from the $1 phone scam or the Annual Visitor Survey scam in that it does not necessarily lead to a subscription site. Still, “Click Allow to win a prize” sites do advertise fake giveaways, among other malicious sites.

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