Over the last few months, I've been constantly seeing the following page that is allegedly from Norton pop-up on both my Chrome and Edge browsers. The pop-up happens at random times, often after I have started working for a few minutes on my browser. It doesn't happen every time I open the browser, and the pattern in which it appears is unpredictable.
This is a screenshot of the page:
This is the page URL:
https://search.norton.com/protect?SSDCAT=321&installSource=direct&source=direct&product=ngc&year=2015&guid=C6692CB7-F1D6-44C3-9D24-66750E507259&locale=en_US&geo=US&doi=2022-06-11&version=22.22.4.11&layouttype=ESD&partnerid=1000&puid=5039&templatecat=SBU_W_1000_5039_N360DSP_ESD&schemacat=SBU_W&schemaver=1.0.0.0&olpchannel=SESD&osvers=10.0&oslocale=iso%3AGBR&oslang=iso%3AENG&os=windows&cmpgn=may22&ShowUninstallSurvey=1&installStatus=updated&vendor=none&vendorsrc=Chrome&machineLocation=SG&TB=0&SW=1&NPW=0&3IN1=0&HP=0&DSP=0&gdefser=0&ghompag=0&g3x1=0&browser=Chrome&cdest=direct&vendorOffered=iac
As you can see from the screenshot above, Norton Safe Web has marked this site as "safe" (the green checkmark, circled above). However, I find this strange because why would Norton create a pop-up that would appear on my browser with no trigger whatsoever? I have never clicked on anything or interacted with the Norton app at any time before this popup appears. It happens almost at random.
I've tried many ways to get rid of this, including:
- Trying to turn off every notification I see in Norton's settings
- Installing a popup blocker to block this page
But nothing works, I am appalled that it even gets through a popup blocker.
However, whenever I run Norton, or try to report this page, Norton keeps marking it as a safe site and my reports are ignored. This is where it gets even more dodgy.
Contacted Norton support, but remote session was dodgy
I just contacted Norton support about 20 mins ago, and I am still a bit shaken by the experience. I was attended to by someone called Yash S. I believe at the time that he is indeed a legit Norton helpdesk person as I have contacted him through the Norton support site.
Yash offered to help me with the fix, and asked me to give him permission to access my computer, which I did. I downloaded this NortonLifeLock Support app and ran it - I am familiar with these support apps that lets IT helpdesk teams support clients remotely. However, here's where it starts getting weird.
First thing Yash did was to promise me that he's going to use "most powerful Norton software" to detect any malware. But I didn't see him doing that. Instead, he goes right to my browser and proceeds to attempt to delete my browsing history and files, without asking my permission. I asked him to stop right away - it's hard because I had to wrangle control of the mouse from Yash.
Yash then explains that he needs to do this because the problem is with the browser cache, that didn't make sense. I had this problem happen on both Chrome, and Edge, which are completely different software and signed in using different accounts (Google for Chrome and Microsoft for Edge). I hardly use Edge (only accessed it a couple of times just to tweak default browser settings) and this is a new computer, there is no browsing data on Edge so that didn't make sense.
However Yash insisted that the Chrome browser data is indeed the case, he added that my problem was not a Norton one. I asked him if the above page, with its URL is indeed a malicious site and not affiliated to Norton, he said yes, it's not a Norton webpage. I asked Yash where could I report that the URL I shared was malicious, but he didn't reply. Then, he proceeds to try deleting my browser data a second time without explaining anything or asking for information.
I was a bit freaked out now because I have no idea at this point, if this is someone who's indeed Norton staff trying to help me solve a non-Norton problem, without using Norton's tools and software, but instead attempting to delete my info on a Google software. It just didn't make sense. It was at this point that I ended the remote session because I really didn't trust him anymore.
Now I am still stuck with a popup that won't go away, and a reluctance to contact Norton support any further. Does anyone have a similar issue with this popup appearing on your screens? And did anyone who helped you attempt to do the same thing?