A website can send notifications after you have left its page, and Apple notes that they can arrive even when Safari is not open. An alarming notification therefore does not, by itself, establish that a system scan found a problem.

Identify the source without following the alert

Read the website or application name shown with the notification. If it claims urgent infection, payment failure or account suspension, do not use its buttons to install software or provide credentials. Open the relevant service through a known address if you need to check your account.

Keep a screenshot only if it helps identify the source, and avoid capturing private messages beside it. The useful detail is which site has permission, not how frightening its wording is.

Change permission at the correct layer

Open System Settings, Notifications and select the website under application notifications. Turn off its notifications if you no longer want alerts. Apple explains that the entry may remain visible in this list.

To change the website's permission itself, open Safari, Settings, Websites and Notifications. Deny permission to sites that should not notify you. In the same area, you can turn off requests from websites asking for notification permission.

These controls have different purposes. Silencing one site's alerts does not automatically stop future sites from asking, and disabling new requests does not necessarily revoke permissions you already granted. Review both where appropriate.

Afterwards, check that genuinely useful notifications still behave as you expect. Do not delete all browser data merely because one site abused notification access; that wider action can sign you out of unrelated services.

If you already installed an application or disclosed a password through an alert, removing notification permission does not undo those actions. Record what happened and address the specific account or software issue separately.

Source: Apple's Safari website notification controls.

For help with your Mac, contact AEPC in East Auckland or call 027 908 8880 to discuss your requirements.