brendanxx

Q: How to block a particular spam website that keeps appearing

Hi,

When I access a particular website another website keeps appearing telling me to change my browser to theirs - very annoying! How can I get Safari to block this website so it cannot load and stop me using my chosen website. I have Safari 7.1 and am running Mavericks 10.95. I am not that computer literate so the simplest answer the better! Many thanks. Brendan

MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011), iOS 8

Posted on Oct 6, 2014 10:21 AM

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Q: How to block a particular spam website that keeps appearing

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Oct 6, 2014 10:25 AM in response to brendanxx
    Level 10 (271,291 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 6, 2014 10:25 AM in response to brendanxx

    Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems

     

    If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide and AdwareMedic.

     

    Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.

     

    The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.

     

    Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari.

     

    Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.

     

    Quit Safari

     

    Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.

     

    Relaunch Safari

     

    If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.

     

    This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

     

    An excellent link to read is Tom Reed's Mac Malware Guide.

    Also, visit The XLab FAQs and read Detecting and avoiding malware and spyware.

    See these Apple articles:

     

      Mac OS X Snow Leopard and malware detection

      OS X Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

      OS X Mountain Lion- Protect your Mac from malware

      OS X Mavericks- Protect your Mac from malware

      About file quarantine in OS X

     

    If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.)

  • by clynnoswald,

    clynnoswald clynnoswald Jan 31, 2016 2:36 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 31, 2016 2:36 PM in response to Kappy

    I have found the steps above to be helpful in breaking out from the grip of the scam, but going forward? I guess the answer is not easy and I must digest all of the articles to glean the needed information to avoid the dreaded "You must update your Flash Player" scam site. I can't believe crap pop-up pages are allowed to hog-tie the entire browser.

     

    I wonder if the reason my Windows PC hasn't been similarly afflicted is due to my adblocker?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 31, 2016 2:41 PM in response to clynnoswald
    Level 10 (271,291 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 31, 2016 2:41 PM in response to clynnoswald