Advanced Mac Cleaner Manual Removal

A little more searching about Mac Tonic brought up web pages about how to delete it as well as links to third-party software that would also do the trick. In addition, a search of malwarebytes.com included a forum post from a user who reported 'I had Advanced Mac Cleaner on my research VM. It showed update and downloaded Mac Auto Fixer.'

How do you uninstall advanced mac cleaner

A phishing scam has targeted Mac users by redirecting them from legitimate websites to fake websites which tell them that their computer is infected with a virus. The user is then offered Mac Defender 'anti-virus' software to solve the issue.
This “anti-virus” software is malware (i.e. malicious software). Its ultimate goal is to get the user's credit card information which may be used for fraudulent purposes.
The most common names for this malware are MacDefender, MacProtector and MacSecurity.

Advanced

Apple released a free software update (Security Update 2011-003) that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants.
The Resolution section below also provides step-by-step instructions on how to avoid or manually remove this malware.

Resolution

How to avoid installing this malware

If any notifications about viruses or security software appear, quit Safari or any other browser that you are using. If a normal attempt at quitting the browser doesn’t work, then Force Quit the browser.

In some cases, your browser may automatically download and launch the installer for this malicious software. If this happens, cancel the installation process; do not enter your administrator password. Delete the installer immediately using the steps below.

  1. Go into the Downloads folder, or your preferred download location.
  2. Drag the installer to the Trash.
  3. Empty the Trash.

How to remove this malware

If the malware has been installed, we recommend the following actions:

  • Do not provide your credit card information under any circumstances.
  • Use the Removal Steps below.

Removal steps

  1. Move or close the Scan Window.
  2. Go to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity Monitor.
  3. Choose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the window.
  4. Under the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtector.
  5. Click the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select Quit.
  6. Quit Activity Monitor application.
  7. Open the Applications folder.
  8. Locate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other name.
  9. Drag to Trash, and empty Trash.

Malware also installs a login item in your account in System Preferences. Removal of the login item is not necessary, but you can remove it by following the steps below.

  • Open System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login Items
  • Select the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector
  • Click the minus button

Use the steps in the “How to avoid installing this malware” section above to remove the installer from the download location.

Note: Apple provides security updates for the Mac exclusively through Software Update and the Apple Support Downloads site. User should exercise caution any time they are asked to enter sensitive personal information online.

Here we go again.

You might recall that a few months ago I got to spend some time removing MacKeeper from a Mac. Then last week, the call came from downstairs where my spouse was using her Mac. From the sound of her voice, I was sure it wasn't good.

Allow me to paraphrase.... 'Something just popped up on my screen about an automatic update.' It didn't take long to figure out that an app named Mac Auto Fixer was that something and that my spouse didn't install it.

This all sounded suspiciously like a number of other software products that (1) show up on a Mac, seemingly out of thin air, (2) offer to do one thing, but (3) might do something else.

Mac Auto Fixer advertises itself on its website as a 'Cleanup Utility for Mac'.

So I deleted the app, took a look around in the usual places in the home folder (Application Support, Launch Daemons, LaunchAgents, Preferences) and Safari extensions, deleted what looked suspicious, and waited for the app to reappear.

Sure enough, it did.

So what is Mac Auto Fixer?

Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

Mac Auto Fixer advertises itself on its website as a 'Cleanup Utility for Mac'.

Web search research for Mac Auto Fixer also turned up a link to a product called Mac Tonic. It appears that Mac Auto Fixer is a reincarnation of that former app, since the verbiage on the websites for the two products is in large part the same. A little more searching about Mac Tonic brought up web pages about how to delete it as well as links to third-party software that would also do the trick.

In addition, a search of malwarebytes.com included a forum post from a user who reported 'I had Advanced Mac Cleaner on my research VM. It showed update and downloaded Mac Auto Fixer.'

Bingo!

Within a few hours, the folks at Malwarebytes responded, 'Thanks for the heads-up! We're detecting that now.'

How to remove Mac Auto Fixer

I had already tried to delete Mac Auto Fixer manually but was pretty sure there were probably some hidden remnants. So I turned to Malwarebytes.

If you haven't already heard of Malwarebytes, it's an anti-virus program that detects unwanted leftover bits of coding that can oftentimes be left behind, even when you think you've deleted the offending program. You can use it for free on a one-time basis if your Mac is already infected. If you want full-time protection, you can upgrade to the premium version for $39.99 per year for one Mac, $49.99 per year for two computers, and $59.99 per year for three computers. The per-unit price gets cheaper the more computers you license it for.

Advanced Mac Cleaner Manual Removal Software

  1. Open Malwarebytes.

  2. Click Scan Now.

  3. In the results window, check the box for each item to be deleted and click Confirm.

  4. Click Restart.

If you launch Malwarebytes and run the scan again, you can rejoice in the purge.

A PUP By Any Other Name Would Still Not Smell Sweet

Is Advanced Mac Cleaner An Apple Product

Potentially Unwanted Programs will probably keep resurfacing. What PUPs are you seeing and how are you handling them? Let us know in the comments below.

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Advanced Mac Cleaner Manual Removal Download

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