How to stop captcha2020.com from being opened?

Captcha2020[.]com pop-up ads removal instructions

What is captcha2020[.]com?

Captcha2020[.]com is the address of an untrustworthy web page that is designed to promote other pages of this kind, or to load dubious, deceptive content. The Internet is full of pages like this one. Some examples of pages that are similar or almost identical to captcha2020[.]com are withoughtc[.]top, uspetenti[.]top and settings-chrome[.]com. It is important to mention that users do not visit such pages on purpose. Typically, users unintentionally open pages like captcha2020[.]com by clicking shady ads while visiting other unreliable websites. It is also common that browsers open unreliable pages without user interference. It usually happens when browsers have some potentially unwanted application (PUA) installed on them.

Depending on its visitors' geolocation, captcha2020[.]com loads dubious content or opens a couple of other unreliable websites. It is common that pages like captcha2020[.]com are used to promote download pages for browser hijackers, adware, various scam pages (e.g., "You've Made The 9.68-Billionth Search", "Pornographic Alert"), or other deceptive sites. Therefore, neither the captcha2020[.]com page itself or pages that opens are trustworthy. It is important to mention that captcha2020[.]com asks for permission to show notifications. Typically, if pages like this one are allowed to show their notifications, they start to serve annoying notifications with deceptive advertisements, links to potentially malicious pages, etc., in them. Also, captcha2020[.]com may ask its visitors for their mobile phone numbers, supposedly to receive a code that they would have to enter to prove that they are not robots. No personal information should ever be entered on websites like captcha2020[.]com (or any other unreliable page).

One of the reasons why browsers open shady sites (including pages like captcha2020[.]com) by themselves regularly is because they have some PUA installed on them. It is important to mention that PUAs can be designed to collect IP addresses, geolocations, entered search queries, addresses of visited websites and other browsing data, or even personal, sensitive details. All or at least some of the data may be sold to third parties (potentially cyber criminals) or monetized in other ways. Moreover, PUAs can be designed to serve banners, coupons, surveys, pop-ups, or other ads that, if clicked, would open potentially malicious pages or even download, install unwanted software by executing certain scripts.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by captcha2020.com
Threat Type	Push notifications ads, Unwanted ads, Pop-up ads
Detection Names	CRDF (Malicious), CyRadar (Malicious), Kaspersky (Phishing), Sophos (Malware), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	45.79.245.23
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 PUAs are advertised as useful apps. Nevertheless, they are designed to gather various data, force users to visit questionable websites, display deceptive ads. In other words, they are designed only to generate revenue for their developers. PUAs can cause problems relating to privacy, browsing safety, their users are may even become victims identity theft. Therefore, it is strongly advised to immediately uninstall PUAs that are installed on a browser or the operating system.

How did adware install on my computer?

Most users download or install potentially unwanted apps on their computers or web browsers through deceptive advertisements or together with some other software. Users cause unwanted downloads, installations via ads by clicking on ads that are capable of executing certain scripts. Usually, ads of this type appear on unreliable pages. In other cases, users download, install PUAs when they are bundled with other (mainly free) programs: when downloaders, installers have "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings, or checkboxes and users do not change those settings (or untick checkboxes) before finishing downloads, installations.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

It is recommended not to use questionable websites, Peer-to-Peer networks (like torrent clients, eMule), third-party downloaders, installers as sources, tools for downloading or installing programs (or files). It is advisable to use official websites and direct download links only. Downloaders, installers that have "Custom", "Advanced" and other settings or some checkboxes often include offers to download or install various PUAs. Therefore, downloads and installations should not be finished without checking them for bundled apps. Furthermore, it is recommended to avoid clicking on ads that appear on questionable web pages. Some of those ads can be designed to run scripts that would download or even install unwanted software. Any unwanted apps (extensions, plug-ins or add-ons) that are already installed on a web browser should be removed. The same should be done with programs of this kind that are installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with rogue applications, we recommend running a scan with Malwarebytes for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

Appearance of captcha2020[.]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
• Scroll down, find and click "Settings"
• Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"
• Click "Manage" under "Website permissions"
• Click the switch under each suspicious website

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 captcha2020[.]com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall adware applications using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove rogue plug-ins from Google Chrome.
• STEP 3. Remove adware-type extensions from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 4. Remove malicious extensions from Safari.
• STEP 5. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
• STEP 6. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.

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 captcha2020[.]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 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 captcha2020.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 captcha2020.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 captcha2020.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.

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 captcha2020.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.

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 captcha2020.com from your computer, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.

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