Karleu.info pop-up scam (Virus removal guide)

What is Karleu.info?

Karleu.info 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. Karleu.info 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 Karleu.info?
• 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 Karleu.info 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 Karleu.info 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.

Karleu.info can display a ‘show notifications’ pop-up that attempts to get users to click the ‘Allow’ button to allow to its push 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 Karleu.info 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 Karleu.info 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	Karleu.info
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	Karleu.info 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 Microsoft Windows Virus Alert, Your McAfee Subscription Has Expired, Kaspersky – Your PC is infected with 5 viruses. 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 Karleu.info 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 a term that originates from ‘ad supported’ software. Most often, ‘adware’ is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. Its purpose is to generate money for its owner by showing unwanted ads to a user while the user is browsing the World Wide Web.

How does Adware get on your computer

Adware usually spreads bundled with free applications . So, when you installing free software, carefully read the disclaimers, choose the Custom or Advanced install type to watch for third-party apps that are being installed, because some of the apps are potentially unwanted apps and adware.

How to remove Karleu.info pop-up scam (Adware removal instructions)

Not all unwanted software such as adware are easily uninstallable. You might see pop ups, deals, text links, in-text advertisements, banners, fake virus alerts, push notifications and other type of ads in the Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge and might not be able to figure out the program responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many undesired apps neither appear in Microsoft Windows Control Panel. Therefore in order to completely get rid of Karleu.info pop ups, you need to use the following steps. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to exit your web browser or restart your computer.

To remove Karleu.info, use the following steps:

1. How to manually delete Karleu.info
   • Delete recently installed potentially unwanted programs
   • Delete Karleu.info popups from IE
   • Remove Karleu.info scam from Google Chrome
   • Delete Karleu.info pop-ups from Firefox
2. Automatic Removal of Karleu.info scam
3. Stop Karleu.info pop-up scam

How to manually delete Karleu.info

In this section of the post, we have posted the steps that will allow to remove Karleu.info pop ups manually. Although compared to removal utilities, this way loses in time, but you don’t need to download anything on the PC system. It will be enough for you to follow the detailed instructions with pictures. We tried to describe each step in detail, but if you realized that you might not be able to figure it out, or simply do not want to change the Windows and browser settings, then it’s better for you to use tools from trusted developers, which are listed below.

Delete recently installed potentially unwanted programs

First, go to MS Windows Control Panel and delete dubious applications, all programs you don’t remember installing. It’s important to pay the most attention to apps you installed just before Karleu.info scam appeared on your internet browser. If you do not know what a program does, look for the answer on the World Wide Web.

It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown in the following example.

Next, press “Uninstall a program”
It will open a list of all software installed on your computer. Scroll through the all list, and delete any questionable and unknown software. To quickly find the latest installed apps, we recommend sort apps by date in the Control panel.

Delete Karleu.info popups from IE

In order to restore all browser startpage, new tab page and default search engine you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the Windows was installed on your PC.

First, open the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will display the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then press the “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.

In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as displayed on the screen below.

After the procedure is done, 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 browser’s start page, default search provider and newtab to default state.

Remove Karleu.info scam from Google Chrome

Reset Chrome settings to remove Karleu.info scam. If you’re still experiencing issues with Karleu.info popup scam removal, you need to reset Google Chrome browser to its original settings. This step needs to be performed only if adware software has not been removed by the previous steps.

1. First start the Google Chrome and press Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
2. It will open the Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
3. You will see the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension 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, press the “Settings” menu.
5. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Advanced” link.
6. Scroll down again and press the “Reset” button.
7. The Google Chrome will show the reset profile settings page as shown on the image above.
8. Next press the “Reset” button.
9. Once this procedure is complete, your internet browser’s newtab page, home page and search provider by default will be restored to their original defaults.
10. To learn more, read the blog post How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Delete Karleu.info pop-ups from Firefox

If the Firefox web-browser program is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Mozilla Firefox settings such as newtab page, search provider by default and startpage to their default state. It’ll save your personal information such as saved passwords, bookmarks, auto-fill data and open tabs.

First, open the Mozilla Firefox and press button. It will display the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, click the Help button () as displayed in the following example.

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 as shown on the screen below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will display the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the Karleu.info adware. Once, it’s complete, click the “Finish” button.

Automatic Removal of Karleu.info scam

It’s not enough to remove Karleu.info pop-up scam from your web-browser by completing the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some the adware software related files may remain on your PC system and they will recover the adware software even after you remove it. For that reason we advise to use free anti malware utility like Zemana, MalwareBytes and HitmanPro. Either of those programs should has the ability to look for and get rid of adware related to the Karleu.info popups.

Delete Karleu.info scam with Zemana AntiMalware

Thinking about get rid of Karleu.info popups from your web browser? Then pay attention to Zemana AntiMalware. This is a well-known utility, originally created just to detect and get rid of malicious software, adware software and PUPs. But by now it has seriously changed and can not only rid you of malware, but also protect your PC system from malware and adware, as well as identify and remove common viruses and trojans.

Now you can setup and use Zemana AntiMalware to get rid of Karleu.info pop-ups from your web browser by following the steps below:

Click the link below to download Zemana installer called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your personal computer. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.

Start the setup file after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to install this tool on your computer.

During installation you can change certain settings, but we recommend you don’t make any changes to default settings.

When install is complete, this malicious software removal utility will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as shown in the following example.

Now press the “Scan” button . Zemana AntiMalware program will scan through the whole PC for the adware which causes the intrusive Karleu.info pop ups. Depending on your PC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. During the scan Zemana will locate threats present on your personal computer.

When Zemana Anti-Malware has completed scanning, the results are displayed in the scan report. You may remove threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti-Malware will begin to delete adware software that causes Karleu.info popups in your web browser. When that process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your computer to make the change take effect.

Delete Karleu.info popup and malicious extensions with HitmanPro

If Zemana cannot get rid of this adware software, then we suggests to use the Hitman Pro. Hitman Pro is a free removal utility for hijackers, PUPs, toolbars and adware that causes Karleu.info pop ups in your web browser. It is specially designed to work as a second scanner for your device.

Click the link below to download the latest version of HitmanPro for MS Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

When the downloading process is finished, open the file location and double-click the Hitman Pro icon. It will start the HitmanPro tool. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to launch the program, click Yes button to continue.

Next, press “Next” to begin scanning your personal computer for the adware software related to the Karleu.info pop up scam. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.

After Hitman Pro has completed scanning, Hitman Pro will show you the results as shown below.

Make sure to check mark the threats which are unsafe and then press “Next” button. It will show a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button. The Hitman Pro will get rid of adware responsible for Karleu.info scam and move the selected items to the program’s quarantine. After finished, the tool may ask you to restart your PC system.

Delete Karleu.info pop up with MalwareBytes AntiMalware

If you are having problems with Karleu.info pop ups removal, then check out MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. This is a tool that can help clean up your personal computer and improve your speeds for free. Find out more below.

MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.

When downloading is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes will try to update itself and when this task is finished, click the “Scan” button to find adware software that causes Karleu.info scam in your web-browser. Depending on your device, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Make sure to check mark the threats that are unsafe and then click “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is a free program that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malware removal utility, we recommend you to read and follow the tutorial or the video guide below.

Stop Karleu.info pop-up scam

Enabling an ad blocker program such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad blocker apps will also protect you from malicious ads and web sites, and, of course, stop redirection chain to Karleu.info and similar scam web-sites.

1. Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of AdGuard for Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
   
   

   Adguard download
   26659 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. When the download is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. Once the installation is done, press “Skip” to close the installation application 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 launch your personal computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired advertisements, block Karleu.info, 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, which is located on your desktop.

To sum up

Once you have removed the adware using the guidance, Chrome, IE, Mozilla Firefox and Edge will no longer display the Karleu.info scam when you browse the Web. Unfortunately, if the guide 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 Karleu.info scam.