The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #146569 Message #3393824
Posted By: JohnInKansas
22-Aug-12 - 07:35 PM
Thread Name: Tech: POP-UPS.....Help!!
Subject: RE: Tech: POP-UPS.....Help!!
"Ratings" for AV programs tend to vary some, but Malwarebytes has held a very good reputation for removing malware that gets on your computer, hence it gets lots of recommendations for that purpose. In the free version, especially, it has had a good, but not exceptional reputation for blocking malware from getting on your computer. That's not to say it isn't as good as most free versions of other programs, but reports haven't given it a particularly high rating for day-to-day protection.
Assuming that you're running Windows(?) you may have Microsoft Outlook installed(?). Outlook has lots of features, including "notes" that can be sent by about anyone, and such notes may appear as a popup from the lower bar. I found this "feature" so annoying that I disabled Outlook back in the WinXP era and haven't allowed it to be turned on since. It's possible that you're seeing Outlook notes (also called IMs - instant messages - by some, although that term is used otherwise in some places). The "flag" that comes up when you receive an Outlook "note" isn't considered a popup that needs to be blocked by any AV program, since that's an "intended behavior" in Outlook.
If you actually have a use for Outlook, you should be able to change settings to block notes without disabling other features you intend to use, but I haven't seen a need to get into it and just turned the whole thing off.
Some other programs may have similar ability to send you similar notes. That could be a feature of some browsers, but I haven't seen comment about it in such places.
Attempts to get you to click to phony anti-malware sites/programs are one of the main methods of distributing malware recently, so the content of the popups suggests that you don't want to make any direct reply. A search (Google or other) on the program/source name, or anything else that appears in the popup that might be a clue, might get you some information about whether it's scamware or just a legitimate(?) seller who's "overadvertising."
Any anti-malware program you see information on that you didn't go looking for is very likely to be an attempt to get malware onto your computer.
John