How to remove unwanted apps promoting pushails.com?

Pushails[.]com pop-up ads removal instructions

What is pushails[.]com?

It is common that pages like pushails[.]com are promoted through potentially unwanted applications (PUAs), shady websites, and dubious advertisements. In other words, users do not visit such pages on their own (intentionally). There are many websites like pushails[.]com on the Internet. Some examples are news-hot[.]xyz, ro01[.]biz site, and appzery[.]com. It is noteworthy that PUAs often are designed not only to promote untrustworthy websites but also to serve advertisements, collect certain data.

At the time of the research pushails[.]com displayed a message encouraging to click the "Allow" button to continue watching some content (supposedly a video). It is one of the clickbait techniques that pages like pushails[.]com use to trick visitors into allowing them to show notifications. Untrustworthy websites should not be allowed to show notifications. Most of their notifications are used to promote dubious websites, contain deceptive ads, etc. It is possible that pushails[.]com could load other shady content as well. Usually, pages of this type load some shady content or open a couple of other questionable pages (e.g., download websites for adware, browser hijackers). It depends on the geolocation of their visitors.

PUAs can be designed to serve coupons, surveys, banners, pop-ups, or other advertisements. More often than not, advertisements that PUAs display are used to promote untrustworthy pages. Sometimes their ads can cause unwanted downloads or even installations by executing certain scripts. Therefore, it is not safe to click on the ads that PUAs serve. Also, PUAs can be designed to gather browsing data. For example, IP addresses, geolocations, addresses of visited pages, entered search queries. Some PUAs can be designed to collect passwords or other sensitive details. Usually, PUAs gather data for their developer so they could monetize it. For example, to sell it to third parties (potentially cybercriminals), use it for marketing purposes. It means that after installing PUAs, users are likely to encounter problems related to privacy, browsing safety or become victims of identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by pushails.com
Threat Type	Push notifications ads, Unwanted ads, Pop-up ads
Detection Names	Fortinet (Malware), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	139.45.196.144
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.

If a browser opens pages like pushails[.]com, then it very possible that it already has some PUA installed on it. In such case, it is advisable to check a browser for unwanted apps and remove them as soon as possible. It is worth mentioning that the main reason why apps of this type are called potentially unwanted is that most users download and install them unintentionally.

How did adware install on my computer?

Quite often, potentially unwanted applications are distributed through downloaders, installers for other programs. In other words, it is common for PUAs to be included in downloaders, installers as additional offers. Such offers can be declined using settings (e.g., "Custom", "Advanced", "Manual") or checkboxes available in those downloaders, installers. Users download and install PUAs together with other programs when they leave the aforementioned settings unchanged. Also, sometimes users download and (or) install PUAs by clicking on deceptive advertisements. However, only when they click on ads capable of running certain scripts (usually, such ads appear on untrustworthy pages).

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Applications should never be downloaded via third-party downloaders, eMule, torrent clients, or other Peer-to-Peer networks, from unofficial pages, and so on, or installed via third-party installers. By using them, users risk downloading and install malware or other unwanted software on their computers. Files and apps should be downloaded from official websites and via direct links. Downloaders and installers that have "Custom", "Advanced," and other similar settings should be checked for bundled applications, and those applications should be opted out. Ads that appear on shady pages should not be trusted as well. Quite often, those ads open dubious pages or even cause unwanted downloads, installations. If there are any suspicious, unknown, or unwanted extensions, plug-ins, or add-ons installed on a browser or programs of this kind installed on a computer, then they should be removed. If your computer is already infected with rogue applications, we recommend running a scan with Malwarebytes for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

Appearance of pushails[.]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:
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Quick menu:

• What is pushails[.]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 pushails[.]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 pushails.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 pushails.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 pushails.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 pushails.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 pushails.com from your computer, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.

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