Psistaugli.com Uses Fake Content to Trick Users Into Accepting Ads

While investigating suspicious websites, our research team made a noteworthy discovery: the rogue page called psistaugli.com. This website engages in malicious activities by bombarding users with browser notification spam and redirecting them to other potentially unreliable or harmful websites. It's common for users to come across pages like psistaugli.com through redirects caused by sites utilizing deceptive advertising networks.

The content presented on these rogue websites may vary based on the visitors' IP addresses or geolocations.

Upon accessing the psistaugli.com page, we were confronted with a misleading message that stated, "Click the Allow button to subscribe to the push notifications and continue watching." The website suggested that users must enable browser notifications to proceed with viewing online content.

These rogue webpages exploit the notifications feature to conduct intrusive advertising campaigns. The ads displayed on these pages predominantly promote online scams, untrustworthy or dangerous software, and even malware.

As a result, users who interact with pages like psistaugli.com may fall victim to system infections, encounter severe privacy issues, experience financial losses, and become vulnerable to identity theft.

How Can Misleading Websites Abuse Push Notifications to Spam You With Ads?

Misleading websites can abuse push notifications to spam users with ads through deceptive tactics. Here's how they typically exploit push notifications:

• Deceptive prompts: When you visit a misleading website, they may display deceptive prompts that urge you to click the "Allow" button for push notifications. The prompts may use misleading language, such as claiming it's necessary for accessing content, continuing to the website, or confirming your age.
• Hidden or disguised opt-ins: Some misleading websites may employ hidden or disguised opt-in checkboxes, buttons, or overlays. They make these elements blend with the page or use clever placement to trick users into unknowingly subscribing to push notifications.
• Social engineering techniques: Misleading websites often employ social engineering techniques to manipulate users. They may use fake system warnings, false claims of virus infections, or promises of exclusive content to convince users to enable push notifications.
• Notification bombing: Once users have unwittingly allowed push notifications, these misleading websites can bombard them with a continuous stream of intrusive ads. These ads can appear on the user's desktop, mobile device, or browser, even when they are not actively browsing the website.
• Redirects to ad networks: Misleading websites may redirect users to ad networks that deliver spammy or malicious ads through push notifications. These ad networks often have low-quality controls, allowing advertisers to abuse the push notification feature.