Adware becoming a problem

HI,

I got rid of adware on my machine on 30th Aug 2017...I hope the following helps you:

How I got completely rid of adware on my Mac Safari browser:

After I clicked by mistake on installation of a software, that I had downloaded for a friend, my Mac got infested with Adware. They gave me scare messages like your mac is infected, call xyz number, or buy abc software etc.

Thankfully I knew not to act on those sharewares. They further started redirecting me to websites I never intended to visit.

It was extremely annoying. I tried looking for various solutions on internet, and removed applications like flash player from my applications folder. However nothing helped me to completely remove the adware. For a non techie person like me, this can be quite frustrating.

Finally, I landed on a site that asked me to remove certain plists from launch agent and launch deamon. Plist or property list is basically an application that executes the attached file in background, without user coming to know about it. Many a times these lists are legitimate as well.

How to reach launch agent:

Right Click the Finder Window > Click on Go to Folder > Paste -

/Library/LaunchAgents

/Library/LaunchDaemons

The files here seemed quite legit, with names like apple, google, microsoft update etc. Sample names below:

com.apple.roinnris.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist

At first glance I thought that they must be legitimate. Then I clicked on them to check the source file. And then I found all the culprits.

From the plist I took the link for source code, and found that all those files were stored in library folder. I went to the library folder by the following method:

Right Click on Finder > Click on Go to Folder > Paste /Users/USERNAME/Library/

At the bottom of the folder, a lot of folders and files were created and all of them were created on or 3-4 days after 11th Aug 17 (the date on which I had installed the godforsaken software).

In Library, legitimate apple folders were arranged by name and ended at Workflows (Or so I have guessed). I found that all folders after that were adware folders. Here are the name of those files and folders in case you find them useful.

ApplicationSupport

appn

backup.zip

biter

roinnris

impoliteness.sb

instance

jjkl

MacInstallEe

MacInstallPall

MacUpdDate

mi_bespill

settings.dat

ttCIOmts

ughkxwoiosde

Updates

watch.log

As soon as I removed the above mentioned files found in Library, both the following folders which had at least 7-10 plists in it, automatically cleaned up.

It has been 15 hours since the clean up and I am completely free of adware…yippee!

I hope the above process will help you also clean up the adware.

Regards

Sapana

www.inhika.com

First, to all reading sapgup's response, DO NOT follow any of this advice!

To sapgup. You actually removed the folders, ApplicationSupport and Updates ?!

The OS uses the folder Updates as a temporary holding place for system updates. It may recreate the folder when it sees it's missing, or you may have destroyed the OS's ability to get updates.

The OS and third party apps use the ApplicationSupport folder to store support data for whatever app puts things there. Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, etc. You just canned a LOT of data that should not be removed.

Never, never, ever remove anything if you don't know what the files or folders are for.

Try the solution provided by "Mulder" and "Ferd II" in another discussion at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1702965 and see if it works for you.

Honestly, I think the best option for you is to download Google Chrome (works way better for my Macbook Pro than Safari). You can also block pop-ups in Safari via Preferences which might do the trick. When I had Safari, this didn't happen even with third party extensions on. If it happens on a specific website that you go to a lot, I would suggest blocking the use of cookies and user data from that website. Hope this helps!

I have the exact same adware problem in both Safari and Chrome. I called Apple and they couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. I'd love to know if anyone has an answer.

Sadie1980, if you haven't tried the Adware Removal Guide refenced above. I would give that a try. It solved my problem when no one else could. I even have a tech support issue open with my AntiVirus provider...yes, I know I use AV, and they are "looking into it". I went through the easy to follow steps there and my problem is solved!!!

For Laston43, thomas_r at the Safe Mac asks people to contact him with security problems because he realizes adware/malware is always changing and evolving. I'd give him a try.

You could try this.. Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support