Defender-scanner.com pop-up scam (Virus removal guide)

What is Defender-scanner.com?

Defender-scanner.com pop-ups are a SCAM that uses social engineering methods to trick unsuspecting users into believing the computer is vulnerable to viruses. Scammers use fake alerts to lure the users into installing software they don’t need. Defender-scanner.com pop-ups can invade computers, Android/Apple devices when users land on deceptive websites — by following a link from push notifications, spam emails or mistyping a URL. They might be served to users via Adware, PUPs (potenially unwanted programs) that users can unwittingly install if they download free or pirated versions of software.

 

QUICK LINKS

• What is Defender-scanner.com?
• Protection
• Removal

Typically, scam sites first check the user’s IP address to determine their geolocation. Scammers, having determined the user’s location, can use various scam schemes, change the page language and redirect the user to other dangerous sites. The Defender-scanner.com site shows a fake message that the computer may be vulnerable to viruses and other threats. This scam instructs users to click “STAY PROTECTED” to protect their family from from viruses, spyware, malware, botnets and more. Scammers claim that today there is a 50% discount.

After clicking, users are redirected to another page that offers to purchase antivirus software. In this particular case, users are shown a legitimate McAfee antivirus page offering to purchase the McAfee® Total Protection subscription. Scammers behind Defender-scanner.com earn a commission for each purchased McAfee subscription. Of course, McAfee and other antivirus companies do not allow affiliates to promote their products using social engineering tricks, misleading methods, and deceptive advertising. However, despite this ban, scammers continue to advertise McAfee Antivirus and other antivirus companies’ products.

Defender-scanner.com displays a show notifications pop-up that attempts to get users to click the ‘Allow’ button to allow to its notifications. These notifications are advertisements displayed in the lower right corner of the screen urges users to play online games, visit dubious web pages, install internet browser extensions & so on.

How to protect against Defender-scanner.com scam

To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, it is important to always keep in mind:

• There are no sites that can detect viruses and other security threats.
• Never install/purchase software promoted by suspicious sites, as it can be useless, and besides, it can be dangerous for you and your computer.
• Close Defender-scanner.com as soon as it appears on your computer screen. Scammers can prevent you from closing it in various ways. In such cases, close your browser using Task Manager or restart your computer. If the next time you launch the browser, it prompts you to restore the previous session, abandon it, otherwise this scam will reopen on your screen.
• Use an ad blocker when browsing the internet. It can block known scam sites and protect you from scammers.

Threat Summary

Name	Defender-scanner.com
Type	fake alerts, pop-up scam, phishing
Symptoms	you experience lots of of unexpected pop up advertisements web site links redirect to web sites different from what you expected new entries appear in your Programs folder an unwanted extension appears in your internet browser unwanted changes in your browser like using a new default search engine you cannot update your anti-virus slow browsing Internet CPU usage seems unusually high
Removal	Defender-scanner.com removal guide

 

There are many scam websites on the Internet designed to trick visitors into installing untrustworthy software. We have already reported on other scam pages such as Your McAfee Subscription Has Expired,
Kaspersky – Your PC is infected with 5 viruses, Microsoft Windows Virus Alert. Some of these scams are positioned as a legitimate Microsoft, Norton, McAfee pages, but in fact have nothing to do with Microsoft, Kaspersky and McAfee.

The Defender-scanner.com pop ups are caused by malicious advertisements on websites you visit, push notifications or Adware. Browser (push) notifications are originally developed to alert the user of recently published news. Cyber criminals abuse ‘push notifications’ by displaying unwanted ads. These ads are displayed in the lower right corner of the screen urges users to play online games, visit questionable web-pages, install web browser add-ons & so on.

Adware is form of malware that can cause problems for your personal computer. It can generate numerous additional pop up, banner, pop-under and in-text link ads flooding on your web-browser; gather your data like login details, online searches, etc; run in the background and drag down your personal computer running speed; give more chances for other adware software, PUPs even malicious software to get on your computer.

How does Adware get on your PC

Adware software can be spread through the use of trojan horses and other forms of malware, but most often, adware comes together with some free software. Many makers of free programs include bundled programs in their setup file. Sometimes it’s possible to avoid the install of any adware: carefully read the Terms of Use and the Software license, select only Manual, Custom or Advanced installation method, disable all checkboxes before clicking Install or Next button while installing new free applications.

Remove Defender-scanner.com notifications from web browsers

If you’re getting push notifications from the Defender-scanner.com or another scam web site, you’ll have previously pressed the ‘Allow’ button. Below we will teach you how to turn them off.

Google Chrome	Android
In the right upper corner of the screen, click on Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three vertical dots. In the menu go to ‘Settings’, scroll down to ‘Advanced’ settings. When the drop-down menu appears, tap ‘Settings’. Scroll down to ‘Advanced’. Go to Notifications settings. Find the Defender-scanner.com site and remove it by clicking the three vertical dots on the right to the URL and select ‘Remove’.	Tap ‘Settings’. Tap ‘Notifications’. Find and tap the web-browser that displays Defender-scanner.com notifications ads. Locate Defender-scanner.com URL, other questionable sites and set the toggle button to ‘OFF’ on them one-by-one.
Mozilla Firefox	Edge
Click on ‘three horizontal stripes’ button at the top right hand corner. In the drop-down menu select ‘Options’. In the left side select ‘Privacy & Security’. Scroll down to ‘Permissions’ and then to ‘Settings’ next to ‘Notifications’. Locate Defender-scanner.com site, other rogue notifications, click the drop-down menu and choose ‘Block’. Save changes.	In the top right hand corner, click on the three dots to expand the Edge menu. Scroll down, locate and click ‘Settings’. In the left side select ‘Advanced’. In the ‘Website permissions’ section click ‘Manage permissions’. Right-click the Defender-scanner.com site. Click ‘Delete’.
Internet Explorer	Safari
In the right upper corner of the browser, click on the menu button (gear icon). Go to ‘Internet Options’ in the menu. Select the ‘Privacy’ tab and click ‘Settings below ‘Pop-up Blocker’ section. Find the Defender-scanner.com site and click the ‘Remove’ button to delete the domain.	On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Open ‘Websites’ tab, then in the left menu click on ‘Notifications’. Locate the Defender-scanner.com and select it, click the ‘Deny’ button.

How to remove Defender-scanner.com pop-ups from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

If you have consistent pop ups or unwanted advertisements, slow computer, freezing PC problems, you are in need of adware removal assistance. The steps below will guide you forward to get Defender-scanner.com scam removed and will assist you get your computer operating at peak capacity again.

To remove Defender-scanner.com, execute the steps below:

1. How to delete Defender-scanner.com popups without any software
   • Delete recently installed potentially unwanted apps
   • Remove Defender-scanner.com popup scam from Chrome
   • Get rid of Defender-scanner.com pop-up scam from Firefox
   • Remove Defender-scanner.com pop ups from IE
2. Automatic Removal of Defender-scanner.com pop ups
3. Stop Defender-scanner.com pop up scam

How to delete Defender-scanner.com popups without any software

First try to remove Defender-scanner.com pop-up scam manually; to do this, follow the steps below. Of course, manual adware removal requires more time and may not be suitable for those who are poorly versed in system settings. In this case, we suggest that you scroll down to the section that describes how to delete scam pop-ups using free adware removal tools.

Delete recently installed potentially unwanted apps

The main cause of Defender-scanner.com scam could be potentially unwanted software, adware or other malicious applications that you may have accidentally installed on the computer. You need to find and uninstall all suspicious apps.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then press Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
2. If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and press “Control Panel”.
3. It will show the Windows Control Panel.
4. Further, click “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
5. It will open a list of all applications installed on the device.
6. Scroll through the all list, and delete suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort applications by date.

See more details in the video tutorial below.

Remove Defender-scanner.com popup scam from Chrome

Another solution to remove Defender-scanner.com popups from Google Chrome is Reset Google Chrome settings. This will disable malicious extensions and reset Google Chrome settings to default state. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed or cleared.

1. First start the Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
2. It will display the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
3. You will see the list of installed add-ons. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
4. Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
5. You will see the Google Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Advanced” link.
6. Scroll down again and click the “Reset” button.
7. The Chrome will display the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
8. Next click the “Reset” button.
9. Once this task is finished, your internet browser’s new tab, default search provider and home page will be restored to their original defaults.
10. To learn more, read the post How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Get rid of Defender-scanner.com pop-up scam from Firefox

If the Firefox internet browser is re-directed to Defender-scanner.com and you want to recover the Mozilla Firefox settings back to their default state, then you should follow the guidance below. Keep in mind that resetting your web-browser will not remove your history, bookmarks, passwords, and other saved data.

Launch the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the internet browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Mozilla Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the Defender-scanner.com adware. After, it is complete, click the “Finish” button.

Remove Defender-scanner.com pop ups from IE

In order to recover all internet browser newtab, search provider and home page you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the Windows was installed on your PC system.

First, launch the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will show the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web-browser, then click the “Internet Options” as shown in the following example.

In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button such as the one below.

After the procedure is complete, click “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and restart your PC for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web browser’s search provider by default, start page and new tab to default state.

Automatic Removal of Defender-scanner.com pop ups

It’s very difficult for classic antivirus to detect adware and other kinds of potentially unwanted programs. We recommend you run a free anti-adware such as Zemana AntiMalware, MalwareBytes and HitmanPro from our list below. These utilities will allow you scan and remove trojans, malware, spyware, keyloggers, bothersome and malicious adware from an infected personal computer.

How to get rid of Defender-scanner.com popups with Zemana AntiMalware

Zemana is extremely fast and ultra light weight malware removal tool. It will help you get rid of scam pop-ups, uninstall adware, potentially unwanted applications and other malicious software. This program gives real-time protection which never slow down your personal computer. Zemana Anti-Malware is developed for experienced and beginner computer users. The interface of this tool is very easy to use, simple and minimalist.

Download Zemana by clicking on the following link. Save it to your Desktop.

After downloading is done, start it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the Zemana will try to update itself and when this task is complete, click the “Scan” button to start checking your device for the adware responsible for Defender-scanner.com popups.

Depending on your personal computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Zemana Anti-Malware application is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat. All found threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply press “Next” button.

The Zemana will begin to get rid of adware that causes Defender-scanner.com scam.

Use HitmanPro to get rid of Defender-scanner.com pop ups

HitmanPro is a free removal utility. It removes PUPs, adware, hijackers and unwanted web browser extensions. It will identify and remove adware software that causes Defender-scanner.com pop-up scam in your internet browser. Hitman Pro uses very small PC system resources and is a portable application. Moreover, Hitman Pro does add another layer of malware protection.

1. Installing the HitmanPro is simple. First you will need to download Hitman Pro on your personal computer by clicking on the link below.
   
   

   HitmanPro
   11271 downloads
   Author: Sophos
   Category: Security tools
   Update: June 28, 2018
   
2. When downloading is finished, double click the Hitman Pro icon. Once this tool is started, press “Next” button to start scanning your PC system for the adware related to the Defender-scanner.com pop-ups. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your personal computer. During the scan Hitman Pro will scan for threats exist on your computer.
3. When Hitman Pro has completed scanning, it will display the Scan Results. When you’re ready, press “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malware found.

Remove Defender-scanner.com pop-ups with MalwareBytes AntiMalware

We suggest using the MalwareBytes. You can download and install MalwareBytes AntiMalware to look for adware software and thereby delete Defender-scanner.com scam from your web browsers. When installed and updated, this free malicious software remover automatically scans for and removes all threats exist on the device.

MalwareBytes AntiMalware can be downloaded from the following link. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.

After the downloading process is finished, close all windows on your PC system. Further, run the file called MBSetup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.

It will display the Setup wizard that will assist you install MalwareBytes on the PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once install is complete successfully, click “Get Started” button. Then MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main window as shown in the figure below.

Next, click the “Scan” button to scan for adware related to the Defender-scanner.com pop ups. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is done.

After MalwareBytes AntiMalware completes the scan, a list of all items found is prepared. In order to delete all threats, simply click “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will remove adware responsible for Defender-scanner.com scam and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine. When the cleaning procedure is done, you may be prompted to reboot your personal computer. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware to remove browser hijackers, adware and other malware.

Stop Defender-scanner.com pop up scam

We recommend to install an ad-blocker application which can stop Defender-scanner.com and other annoying web pages. The adblocker utility such as AdGuard is a application which basically removes advertising from the Web and stops access to malicious web-pages. Moreover, security experts says that using adblocker programs is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Internet.

1. AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link. Save it directly to your Microsoft Windows Desktop.
   
   

   Adguard download
   25674 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. After the downloading process is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the setup program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your PC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop undesired ads, block Defender-scanner.com, as well as other malicious or misleading web pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your computer for new adwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block intrusive pop-up ads and malicious webpages). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus application, turn on the option to detect PUPs.

If you need more help with Defender-scanner.com related issues, go to here.