PUP.Optional.Cmptch

Short bio

PUP.Optional.Cmptch.Generic is a generic detection for a family of potentially unwanted Chrome extensions that point to one of the subdomains of cmptch.com.

Symptoms

The affected browser will open advertisements displaying offers originating from one of the subdomains of cmptch.com (i.e. partners.cmptch.com).

Type and source of infection

PUP.Optional.Cmptch.Generic is a potentially unwanted browser extension behaving like adware and usually was installed by bundlers.

Protection

Malwarebytes blocks the domain cmptch.com because it is involved in adware and PUPs.

block cmptch.com

Remediation

Malwarebytes can detect and remove PUP.Optional.Cmptch.Generic without further user interaction.

Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop.
Double-click MBSetup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
When your Malwarebytes for Windows installation completes, the program opens to the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen.
Click on the Get started button.
Click Scan to start a Threat Scan.
Click Quarantine to remove the found threats.
Reboot the system if prompted to complete the removal process.

Add an exclusion

Should users wish to keep this program and exclude it from being detected in future scans, they can add the program to the exclusions list. Here’s how to do it.

Open Malwarebytes for Windows.
Click the Detection History
Click the Allow List
To add an item to the Allow List, click Add.
Select the exclusion type Allow a file or folder and use the Select a folder button to select the main folder for the software that you wish to keep.
Repeat this for any secondary files or folder(s) that belong to the software.

The Chrome extensions for Windows are usually located in the folder %APPDATA%\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\{Default}\Extensions\

Associated threats

PUP.Optional.Cmptch.Generic