"Click Allow to Verify That You Are Not a Robot" Pop-up Scams
Malicious websites have used all sorts of tricks over the years to lure visitors into downloading malware or clicking links that install potentially unwanted browser software such as certain browser hijackers. One of the relatively new tricks used by dubious websites is the "Click Allow to verify that you are not a robot" pop-up.
The gist of the scam is very simple, but surprisingly effective, seeing how many bad websites started using this trick in the last couple of years. When a user lands on the bad web page, they are faced with a very plain pop-up box.
The prompt asks the user to click the "Allow" button on the pop-up in order to verify that they are not a robot. What is really going on is nothing like what is being presented.
The user is tricked into believing the prompt is a bot check, while in reality, a number of unpleasant things can happen. Perhaps the most widely used scenario which employs the fake "not a robot" pop-up is distributing browser hijackers. There are a number of bad domains that display the fake pop-up warning and when the user agrees, a browser hijacker is downloaded onto their system, modifying settings and taking over the browser used at the moment.
Other scams that use the same trick and fake pop-up are used to trick users into allowing push notifications on their system. Once the user clicks the "Allow" button, thinking they are passing a regular bot check, they will start seeing obtrusive and unsolicited ad windows and pop-ups that can seriously impair their browsing experience and connection speed.
One thing to keep in mind is that when you are passing an anti-bot check, the button you need to click will almost certainly not be labelled "Allow", as this is the standard browser interface for allowing push notifications and installing browser addons.
Another thing you can do is very carefully check the URL in your address bar when you see the "Click Allow to verify that you are not a robot" pop-up. If the URL is something about a "free iPhone" or just a random jumble of letters, you are obviously on a scam page and should simply close the browser window immediately, without agreeing to anything on the page.
