Email scam notifications

[FatBear]

Issue abstract: Email scam notifications driving me nuts

Detailed description: Recently Norton began popping up notifications on the screen telling me of scam emails that it had blocked. I’m very happy that it is blocking them, but the endless snowfall of notifications is far worse than the scam emails. I have tried to figure out how to turn them off and have failed. Is it possible? I’ve used Norton since 1998, but if I cannot turn these off then it is time to move on to a better product.

Product & version number: 26.4.10932 (build 26.4.10932.983)

OS details: Windows 11 Pro

What is the error message you are seeing?

If you have any supporting screenshots, please add them:

[bjm]

fwiw ~ my understanding:

Norton released new UI update version 1.0.148 with fix for your issues.
Please run LiveUpdate and Restart machine to get the fix.

[FatBear]

Actually, they replied to me privately, asked some questions, I sent them some answers and I think a screen shot and then the discussion ended. I just now realized that the annoying notifications stopped a few days later. I don’t know if they have a way to push a test update out to a specific customer or if they fixed it for everyone a month or more ago, but I’m happy either way.

I just opened Norton. It said I needed to restart to update, but after the update I am at 1.0.145, not 1.0.148. Probably fine though.

Thanks for answering.

[bjm]

@FatBear

Actually, they replied to me privately, asked some questions, I sent them some answers and I think a screen shot and then the discussion ended. I just now realized that the annoying notifications stopped a few days later. I don’t know if they have a way to push a test update out to a specific customer or if they fixed it for everyone a month or more ago, but I’m happy either way.

I just opened Norton. It said I needed to restart to update, but after the update I am at 1.0.145, not 1.0.148. Probably fine though.

Hello @FatBear
Please run Norton LiveUpdate + Restart (not Shut down) machine.

Norton Security 26.7 for Windows is now available!

[bjm]

Hello @FatBear
Care to share your progress?
Thanks

[FatBear]

Sorry, the problem seemed to go away about a week before your last message. Thank you!

[bjm]

Hello @FatBear
Thanks for sharing your progress

[FatBear]

It’s back. Rattling off lots of notifications about stuff that is not urgent. Driving me nuts. Must have been a software downgrade. (I’m sure they call it an upgrade, but that’s not how it appears to me.)

[bjm]

@FatBear

Recently Norton began popping up notifications on the screen telling me of scam emails that it had blocked. I’m very happy that it is blocking them, but the endless snowfall of notifications is far worse than the scam emails. I have tried to figure out how to turn them off and have failed. Is it possible? I’ve used Norton since 1998, but if I cannot turn these off then it is time to move on to a better product.
Windows 11 Pro

@FatBear

It’s back. Rattling off lots of notifications about stuff that is not urgent. Driving me nuts. Must have been a software downgrade. (I’m sure they call it an upgrade, but that’s not how it appears to me.)

Hello @FatBear
Care to share screenshot?
Are you running Norton 360 Deluxe?
Are you running Norton 360 Advanced or Norton 360 with LifeLock?
Are you running Local Email Client?

The “endless snowfall” of notifications you are experiencing is tied directly to the newly enhanced Safe Email / Scam Protection module, which monitors network traffic and loudly flashes a popup every time a junk mail server attempts to deliver mail.

The “Show email scam notifications” toggle inside Norton v26 is part of a unified interface design, but it only applies and triggers a notification in two specific scenarios based on the user’s subscription tier and email software:

1. On Standard Tiers (Norton 360 Deluxe)
   On this plan, the toggle only applies if you use a local desktop email client installed on your PC (such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird).

• How it works: Norton hooks into your computer’s local physical network ports to scan data streams as they land on your hard drive.
• The Result: If you use a desktop mail client, turning this toggle ON will flash a desktop popup for every scam email blocked. If you only check your email using a web browser (webmail), this toggle is completely dead code and sits entirely dormant on your machine.

2. On Higher Tiers (Like Norton 360 Advanced or Premium)
   On these plans, the toggle applies if you use webmail checked in a browser (such as Gmail or Outlook).

• How it works: These tiers include Scam Protection Pro / Safe Email. The user explicitly links up to 5 webmail addresses directly to Norton’s cloud servers. Norton inspects the mail up in the cloud before it ever reaches the user.
• The Result: Every time Norton’s cloud server flags a scam message, it pushes a real-time data sync alert down to the desktop app. If this toggle is ON, it triggers that relentless “snowfall” of desktop pop-ups that drives users crazy.

The Ultimate Takeaway

• Deluxe + Webmail: The toggle is totally inactive. You will never see legitimate email scam pop-ups, meaning any alerts you do see are 100% fake browser scareware scams mimicking Norton.
• To stop the alerts on any tier: Simply click that green toggle inside the app settings to flip it to a red ‘X’. This forces Norton to actively block the scams completely silently in the background.

The Norton v26 User + Notification Matrix

Plan Tier	Email Access Method	Does the Toggle Apply?	Visual Notification Behavior
Standard / Deluxe / Premium	Webmail (Browser-based: Gmail, Yahoo)	NO (Dormant Code)	Total Silence. Norton cannot see or scan cloud webmail on these tiers. (Note: If alerts appear here, they are 100% fake browser scareware scams.)
Standard / Deluxe / Premium	Local Email Client (Installed apps: Outlook, Thunderbird)	YES (Local Ports)	Single-Layer Notification. The local app scans incoming PC hardware ports and flashes a desktop banner for every local block.
Advanced / All LifeLock Plans	Webmail (Browser-based: Gmail, Yahoo)	YES (Cloud Sync)	Single-Layer Notification. Norton’s cloud servers scan the inbox on the web and push a real-time sync banner down to the desktop app for every block.
Advanced / All LifeLock Plans	Local Email Client (Installed apps: Outlook, Thunderbird)	YES (Double Engine)	Double-Layer Notification (Punishment Mode). Both engines fire back-to-back. The cloud server flashes an alert when it labels the email, and the local app flashes a second alert when Outlook downloads it.

Norton v26 utilizes a unified interface wrapper, but its underlying notification engines fire differently depending on your specific plan tier and how you check your mail:

• The Premium Double-Engine Penalty: If you run a higher tier plan (Advanced or any LifeLock bundle) AND you use a local desktop email application (like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird, your system runs a Double-Layer Notification. Norton’s cloud servers flash an alert when they tag the message on the web server, and your local Norton software flashes a second duplicate alert moments later when your local client downloads it to your hard drive.
• The Standard Single-Engine Stream: If you run a standard tier (Standard, Deluxe, or Premium) with a desktop mail client, your local PC hardware ports are pushing a Single-Layer Notification for every single piece of junk filtered out by your computer.

(Note: If you run a Standard/Deluxe plan and ONLY use browser webmail like Gmail, these alerts are actually fake browser scareware scams mimicking Norton, as standard tiers do not possess cloud webmail scanning code).

The Permanent Fix (No Security Lowered):
You can completely silence the visual punishment instantly while keeping your background cloud and local antivirus scanners 100% active and protecting you.

1. Open your main Norton v26 application window.
2. Click the Settings (Gear Icon) located on the left-hand navigation pane.
3. Select the Notifications tab from the settings menu.
4. Locate the row labeled “Show email scam notifications”.
5. Click the green toggle switch on the right side of that row so that it flips to a red ‘X’.
6. (Optional for Cloud Users): If you want to stop background cloud synchronization processing entirely, log into norton.com, open the Safe Email / Scam Protection Pro tile, and click the ‘X’ to disconnect your email addresses from the web servers.

Once the toggle is set to the red ‘X’, Norton will continue aggressively shielding your data entirely in the background, giving you your quiet desktop back.

• Features of Norton Safe Email
• Features of Norton Scam Protection and Scam Protection Pro

Standard / Deluxe / Premium plans: get basic Scam Protection managed directly inside the local Norton 360 UI dashboard on your computer. It runs completely locally on your machine. The “Show email scam notifications” toggle inside your app only wakes up if you pull mail through a local desktop program like Outlook.
Advanced / All LifeLock plans: unlock Scam Protection Pro, which adds Safe Email and Safe Call. Because Safe Email scans webmail accounts directly on external internet servers, users must set it up online through their Norton Account. If users leave the app notification toggle on, those cloud servers continuously ping the computer.

Turning off the local desktop application notification toggle for the higher-tier user only blocks the visual pop-up banners from sliding onto their computer screen. It does not pause or disable the underlying cloud security scanning engine.

Because Norton Safe Email is cloud-based, it modifies data directly on the mail server. The user will still receive their notifications through the following channels:

In-Box Safety Labels (The Core Notification)
When the user logs into their email—whether on a smartphone app, tablet, or web browser—they will see that Norton has visually stamped every single suspicious message directly in their inbox list:

• "Norton: Suspicious – Original Email Subject Line"
  The visual notification shifts from being an annoying desktop pop-up to a quiet, permanent text label right next to the junk mail.

The Norton Portal Activity Logs
If the user ever wants to see a statistical report of what has been caught:
They log into their online dashboard at my.norton.com.
They click on the Safe Email / Scam Protection Pro tile.
The web portal maintains a complete running history log of every single phishing link, malicious attachment, and scam email blocked across all five of their registered mailboxes.

For a higher-tier user flipping “Show email scam notifications” toggle to red ‘X’ provides the perfect compromise. Their email accounts remain fully protected 24/7 by the cloud AI, and scams are clearly labeled right in their inbox. However, the desktop app stays silent, ending the double notification.

For a higher-tier user who only uses a local client (like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird and has not registered their webmail in the cloud, that single application toggle acts as the gatekeeper for their notifications.

AI sourced content may make mistakes

[bjm]

Note: If you run a Standard/Deluxe plan and ONLY use browser webmail like Gmail, these alerts are actually fake browser scareware scams mimicking Norton, as standard tiers do not possess cloud webmail scanning code.

Because you mentioned an “endless snowfall” of messages – maybe, these notifications are fake scareware scams, not your real Norton app.

Modern scammers exploit web browser features to send rapid-fire pop-ups that look exactly like Norton or McAfee alerts to trick you into clicking them. A legitimate antivirus running in the background will not bombard you relentlessly for the same blocked emails.

Fake Browser Notifications
If the pop-ups appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen and look like Windows system alerts, they are usually coming from websites you previously visited that snuck through a “Allow notifications” prompt.

The Quick Fix:

1. The next time one of these “scam email blocked” or “virus found” pop-ups appears, right-click directly on the notification.
2. Look for an option that says “Turn off all notifications for [website name]” or “Go to browser notification settings”.
3. Selecting this will instantly cut off the stream.

To clean them out manually:

• In Microsoft Edge: Click the three dots (…) > Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Notifications. Look under the “Allow” list, find any strange or unrecognized website names, click the three dots next to them, and choose Remove or Block.
• In Google Chrome: Click the three dots (…) > Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Notifications. Under “Allowed to send notifications,” remove any suspicious sites.

• Did you clear browser cookies n’ cache?
• Do you run browser sync?
• Did you recently install any program / browser extension?
• Did you recently allow push notifications?
• Did you recently change site permissions?
• Did you reset browser settings?
• Did you run Norton Full Scan?
• Did you run Malwarebytes Scan?
  Malwarebytes: How to install Malwarebytes & run a scan

Adware and PUPs families add push notifications as an attack vector
Browser push notifications: a feature asking to be abused
Resetting Google Chrome to clear unexpected issues
Web Browser Cleaning
Browser Push Notifications
Reset Chrome settings to default

AI sourced content may make mistakes

[bjm]

Show email scam notifications

For a higher-tier user who only uses a local client like Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird and has not registered their webmail in the cloud, that application toggle acts as the gatekeeper for their notifications.

When the Toggle is ON: The local Norton software monitors the computer’s physical network ports. Every time Outlook pulls a scam email down to the hard drive, Norton flashes an on-screen desktop banner—causing that single-layer notification.
When the Toggle is OFF (red ‘X’): The gate is closed. The local Norton engine still quietly intercepts and blocks the scam email threats from harming the PC in the background, but zero visual notifications are allowed onto the desktop screen.

For a higher-tier user who only uses a webmail account like Gmail or Outlook:

When the Toggle is ON:
The Behavior: The user is subjected to real-time desktop pop-up banners.
How it works: Because their webmail account is actively linked to Norton’s cloud servers, Norton continuously scans their inbox on the web. Every single time a spam or phishing email hits their webmail provider, Norton’s cloud server instantly flags it and pushes a background synchronization signal down to the local desktop app. Since the toggle is ON, the local app immediately throws a visual security banner onto the screen saying “Scam Email Blocked.”

When the Toggle is OFF (red ‘X’):
The Behavior: The user gets desktop silence, but their email remains 100% protected and clearly labeled.
How it works: The cloud scanning engine never stops running; it continues to monitor their mailbox up on the web 24/7. When a scam email arrives, Norton still intercepts it and permanently stamps the subject line with a visual tag directly on the server (e.g., "Norton: Suspicious – [Subject Line]"). However, because the toggle is flipped to a red ‘X’, the gate is closed—the desktop application is completely banned from popping up any visual alert banners on the computer screen. The user opens their webmail browser and safely reads the labels in peace.

AI sourced content may make mistakes