A recent post to the r/xboxone sub-Reddit titled “How to stop these popups?”
included a screenshot of a spam notification on an Xbox One.
The poster is not alone.
Humphrey Muleba / Unsplash
Another recent post to r/MicrosoftEdge complained of virus protection notifications appearing on an Xbox.
A user on r/Xbox reported the same problem.
The notifications are a new avenue for spam that may cause headaches for Xbox owners.
For example, one notification I received warned that a scan had detected a virus on my unit.
The new Edge is more capable than the version it replaces.
Notifications also use scare tactics to nudge user behavior.
For example, a notification may claim an Xbox is infected with malware.
Can an Edge notification infect an Xbox game console with malware?
The answer, for now, is definitive: no.
I followed several notifications that appeared on my Xbox to see where they led.
One sent me through an affiliate link to buy McAfee software.
The second wanted to sell a data protection service.
Microsoft has not commented on the issue.
Xbox Users Should Be Cautious
The solution to notification spam lies in the hands of Xbox owners.
However, those who do use Edge should be careful not to approve prompts that appear.
Xbox owners can also halt notifications by removing them from the list of approved websites in Edge.
However, this doesn’t entirely fix the issue.
