Q. I keep getting “This URL has been blocked under instructions of a competent US Government Authority” pop ups. I really do not wish to have these popping up all while I am trying to use my PC. If someone has any suggestions they would be appreciated.
The pop-up message reads:
Windows Security
The server is asking for your user name and password. The server reports that it is from This URL has been blocked under instructions of a competent US Government Authority or in compliance with the orders of a Court of competent jurisdiction. Infringing or abetting infringement of copyright-protected content including under the URL is an offence in law. Ss. 63, 63-A, 65 and 65-A of the Copyright Act, 1957, read with Section 51, prescribe penalties of a prison term of upto 3 years and a fine of upto 3000 USD. CALL (Toll Free).
A. “This URL has been blocked under instructions of a competent US Government Authority” pop up is scam that’s created in order to force you into believing that your computer has been blocked by US Government Authority. The main purpose of the scam is to force you into calling fake Microsoft Technical Support trying to sell unnecessary virus removal service.
If you’re experiencing odd web-browser behavior, numerous redirections to suspicious web sites, unwanted pop-ups, annoying advertisements trying to sell you suspicious security software, then it is possible that adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) was installed on your computer.
What is Adware & Is it actually malicious?
Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. It is a malicious program that presents unwanted advertisements to computer users. Some examples include pop-up advertisements, fake alerts, different offers and deals or unclosable windows. Adware can be installed onto your machine via infected web-sites, when you open email attachments, anytime you download and install free software.
Other warning signs of adware software infection:
- unwanted ads appear on websites that you are visiting;
- when you go to a web page, you’re constantly redirected to another web-page that you do not intend to visit;
- unclosable window appear and recommend fake security software;
- other unwanted programs or adware may be installed without your say-so.
Even worse, adware software has the ability to gather your browsing history and confidential info, including passwords and credit card numbers. In the future, privacy info about you can be used for marketing purposes.
So, obviously, you need to get rid of the adware as soon as possible. Use the free step-by-step tutorial below. This guide will help you clean your PC system of adware and thus get rid of the “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam.
How to Remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop up scam from Microsoft Edge, IE, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome
As with deleting adware, malware or PUPs, there are few steps you can do. We advise trying them all. If you do only one part of the guide, then it should be run malicious software removal utility, because it should delete adware software and block any further infection. But to completely get rid of “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” popup scam you will have to at least reset your web browser settings such as home page, search provider and new tab to default state, disinfect PC’s web-browsers shortcuts, uninstall all unwanted and suspicious programs, and remove adware software with malicious software removal tools. Some of the steps will require you to reboot your machine or exit this webpage. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam, perform the steps below:
- How to manually remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam
- How to remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” popup scam with free programs
- How to block “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam
- Tips to prevent adware
- To sum up
How to manually remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam
To remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam, adware and other unwanted apps you can try to do so manually. Unfortunately some of the adware software won’t show up in your program list, but some adware may. In this case, you may be able to remove it via the uninstall function of your computer. You can do this by following the steps below.
Delete adware through the Windows Control Panel
The main cause of “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam could be PUPs, adware or other unwanted programs that you may have accidentally installed on the computer. You need to identify and uninstall all questionable applications.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Click the MS Windows logo, and then click Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown on the image below.
After the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as displayed in the figure below.
Windows 7, Vista, XP
Open Start menu and choose the ‘Control Panel’ at right as shown in the following example.
Then go to ‘Add/Remove Programs’ or ‘Uninstall a program’ (MS Windows 7 or Vista) as shown on the image below.
Carefully browse through the list of installed applications and remove all suspicious and unknown programs. We suggest to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed software by date. When you’ve found anything questionable that may be the adware which cause pop up scam or other potentially unwanted application (PUA), then select this application and press ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the questionable application blocked from removal, then run Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully remove it from your machine.
Remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” popup scam from Firefox
If Firefox settings are hijacked by the adware, your web-browser displays unwanted pop-up ads, then ‘Reset Firefox’ could solve these problems. It will keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, open the Firefox and click 
button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, press the Help button (
) as displayed in the figure below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter. It will display the “Troubleshooting Information” page like below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will display the confirmation dialog box. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will start a process to fix your problems that caused by the “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” adware software. After, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.
Delete “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam from IE
By resetting Internet Explorer internet browser you restore your web-browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by adware that causes “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” popup scam.
First, start the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon 
. It will open the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then click the “Internet Options” as displayed below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then press the “Reset” button. The IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, press the “Reset” button as shown on the screen below.
When the task is finished, click “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your browser’s search provider, newtab page and homepage to default state.
Remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam from Google Chrome
Annoying “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-ups or other symptom of having adware software in your web browser is a good reason to reset Chrome. This is an easy method to recover the Google Chrome settings and not lose any important information.
First launch the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will show the Google Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option called “Settings”.
The web browser will show the settings screen. Another solution to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as shown on the image below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation prompt as displayed on the screen below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web browser will launch the task of cleaning. When it is complete, the browser’s settings including startpage, search provider by default and new tab page back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your PC system.
How to remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” popup scam with free programs
In order to completely remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority”, you not only need to delete adware from your system, but also remove all its components in your personal computer including Windows registry entries. We suggest to download and use free removal tools to automatically free your computer of adware software that causes “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam.
How to remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop up with Zemana Free
Zemana highly recommended, because it can find security threats such adware and malicious software which most ‘classic’ antivirus software fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam removal problems which cannot be fixed by this utility automatically, then Zemana provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.
Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
164113 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your PC system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup like below.
When the installation starts, you will see the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana Free on your machine.
Once install is done, you will see window as displayed on the screen below.
Now click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the adware software which cause pop up scam. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan Zemana AntiMalware will look for threats present on your PC.
After that process is done, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the scan results and then press “Next” button.
The Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will begin to remove adware that cause unwanted “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam.
Scan and clean your computer of adware with Hitman Pro
The Hitman Pro tool is free (30 day trial) and easy to use. It can check and get rid of malicious software, PUPs and adware in Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge web-browsers and thereby remove all unwanted “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop ups. HitmanPro is powerful enough to find and get rid of malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the personal computer.
Hitman Pro can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
Once downloading is done, open the directory in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.
Double click the Hitman Pro desktop icon. When the tool is started, you will see a screen as shown on the image below.
Further, click “Next” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the adware software which causes unwanted “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. As the scanning ends, HitmanPro will open a screen which contains a list of malware that has been found as displayed on the screen below.
In order to delete all items, simply press “Next” button. It will open a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button.
Run MalwareBytes to remove “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam
Manual “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the adware can be not completely removed. We advise that run the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware that are completely clean your system of adware. Moreover, the free program will help you to remove malware, potentially unwanted apps, browser hijackers and toolbars that your PC can be infected too.
- Click the following link to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) for Microsoft Windows. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326464 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- After the downloading process is finished, close all applications and windows on your system. Open a folder in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is complete, press the “Scan Now” button to find adware software that causes “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam in your browser. This task can take some time, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes program is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.
- Once the scan get completed, MalwareBytes Free will produce a list of undesired programs adware. Next, you need to click “Quarantine Selected”. After that process is complete, you can be prompted to restart your system.
The following video offers a guidance on how to get rid of browser hijackers, adware and other malicious software with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.
How to block “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” pop-up scam
In order to increase your security and protect your computer against new undesired advertisements and malicious web sites, you need to use adblocker program that blocks an access to malicious ads and webpages. Moreover, the program may block the display of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of webpages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
Please go to the following link to download AdGuard. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.
26659 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the downloading process is complete, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown below.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guidance as on the image below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick guide that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your PC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop undesired ads, block “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam, as well as other harmful or misleading websites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your desktop.
Tips to prevent adware
In most cases the adware gets on your computer together with various free applications, as a bonus. Therefore it’s very important at the stage of installing programs downloaded from the Internet carefully review the Terms of use and the License agreement, as well as to always select the Advanced, Custom or Manual install option. In this method, you can turn off all unwanted add-ons, including this adware, which will be installed along with the desired program.
To sum up
After completing the tutorial outlined above, your computer should be clean from this adware and other malware. The Internet Explorer, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Chrome will no longer display “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam when you surf the Internet. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help.
Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the intrusive “URL has been blocked by US Government Authority” scam.
