How to uninstall applications that open sites like topflownews.com?

Topflownews[.]com redirect removal instructions

What is topflownews[.]com?

Topflownews[.]com functions like many other rogue websites, for example, allow-space[.]com, belazyelephant[.]com and alisalis[.]com. Sites of this type are designed to load some questionable content or redirect visitors to a couple of other untrustworthy web pages. It is common that users are forced to visit such websites, they do not open them intentionally. They get opened by browsers that have some potentially unwanted application (PUA) installed on them. Also, quite often apps of this type are designed to display intrusive ads and collect details related to user's web browsing habits.

Typically, PUAs open sites like topflownews[.]com in a new browser window or tab. Either way, when visited, those pages load dubious content or redirect visitors to about two or three untrustworthy, or even malicious sites. The way these pages operate depends on visitor's geoloaction. It is worthwhile to mention that pages that get opened via websites like topflownews[.]com can be malicious, designed to advertise shady software, and so on. Moreover, topflownews[.]com uses a clickbait technique to deceive visitors into allowing it to show notifications. It encourages visitors to enable notifications and continue watching some video by clicking the "Allow" button. If clicked, that button allows for pages like topflownews[.]com to show notifications that usually contain questionable advertisements, links to untrustworthy websites, etc. As mentioned in the introduction, PUAs can be, and often are designed to collect information related to user's browsing habits. Most of the times they target details like IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited websites, geolocation, etc. However, apps of this type may be designed to record personal details too. What is worse, people behind those apps may either sell collected data to third parties (potentially cyber criminals) or misuse it to generate revenue by themselves. Another problem with PUAs is that they can be designed to feed users with various intrusive advertisements like coupons, banners, surveys, pop-ups, and other types of ads. When clicked, those ads tend to open unreliable websites or download and/or install various unwanted applications by running certain scripts. Users who have a PUA installed on a browser and/or operating system could experience issues related to browsing safety, online privacy, or even become victims identity theft. Therefore, apps of this type should never be trusted (downloaded and installed).

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by topflownews.com
Threat Type	Push notifications ads, Unwanted ads, Pop-up ads
Serving IP Address	78.140.190.85
Symptoms	Seeing advertisements not originating from the sites you are browsing. Intrusive pop-up ads. Decreased Internet browsing speed.
Distribution Methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications (adware)
Damage	Decreased computer performance, browser tracking - privacy issues, possible additional malware infections.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Malwarebytes. ▼ Download Malwarebytes To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Malwarebytes. 14 days free trial available.

Most potentially unwanted applications are advertised as legitimate, useful, etc. Nevertheless, only a small number of them operate as they were advertised. Most of them are designed only to open questionable pages, collect various browsing-related details and/or display advertisements. In other words, they are designed only to help their developers to generate revenue and put users at risk of various problems.

How did adware install on my computer?

Most users download and/or install PUAs by clicking certain deceptive advertisements or together with other, mostly free programs. It is common that PUAs are distributed by including them in various download and/or installation setups. This distribution method is called "bundling". In most cases information about PUAs being included in setups can be found in their "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings. Users who download and/or install programs without checking (and changing) those settings often allow for PUAs that are included in their setups to be downloaded and/or insttalled too. Unwanted downloads (and installations) can be caused through deceptive advertisements only when users click  them and they are designed to execute certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

All software and files should be downloaded from official pages and via direct links. Channels like Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), unofficial websites, third party downloaders, installers, etc., should not be trusted. It is common that they are used to distribute PUAs or even malicious programs. Also, it is important to check "Custom", "Advanced" and other settings of any download or installation setup. Quite often these settings mention offers to download and/or install unwanted software. Advertisements that appear on questionable websites should not be clicked. They can be designed to open untrustworthy websites or download, install unwanted, potentially malicious software. It is worthwhile to mention that sometimes such ads appear on legitimate pages as well. Unwanted, suspicious extensions, add-ons or plug-ins that are installed on a browser should be uninstalled from it as soon as possible. Software of this kind that is installed on the operating system should be uninstalled too. If your computer is already infected with rogue applications, we recommend running a scan with Malwarebytes for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

Appearance of topflownews[.]com website (GIF):

IMPORTANT NOTE! This deceptive site asks to enable web browser notifications.

Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

Google Chrome (PC):

• Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"
• Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"
• Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Google Chrome (Android):

• Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"
• Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one
• Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and set the toggle button to "OFF"

Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen
• Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"

Internet Explorer:

• Click the Gear button on the right upper corner of the IE window
• Select "Internet options"
• Select the "Privacy" tab and click "Settings" under "Pop-up Blocker" section
• Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button

Microsoft Edge:

• Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window and select "Settings"
• Click on "Site permissions" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen and select "Notifications"
• Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL under "Allow" section and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Safari (Mac):

• Click "Safari" button on the left upper corner of the screen and select "Preferences..."
• Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane
• Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced computer skills. Malwarebytes is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Malwarebytes By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Malwarebytes. 14 days free trial available.

Quick menu:

• What is topflownews[.]com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall adware applications using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue plug-ins from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove adware-type extensions from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove malicious extensions from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Adware removal:

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

Windows XP users:

Click Start, choose Settings and click Control Panel. Locate and click Add or Remove Programs.

Windows 10 and Windows 8 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Mac OSX users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window, look for any potentially unwanted applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted application that causes topflownews[.]com redirects, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Remove adware from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by topflownews.com, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and remove them.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by topflownews.com, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with ads by topflownews.com removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....

In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by topflownews.com, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.

Removal assistance:
If you are experiencing problems while trying to remove ads by topflownews.com from your computer, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.

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