McAfee Virus on MacBook Pro running Ventura 13.2.1

gordonreed wrote:

I do not have McAfee virus protection.  I get messages that someone is trying to get into my bank account, taking $410 from Bank of America. I don't have a Bank of America account. I get several messages a day stating that my iCloud account is being hacked. When checking information, it goes directly to the McAfee logo, telling me I have been hacked with Trojans. They want me to send money to clear the account.  Has anyone had this problem and cleared it without having to crash the computer and starting all over?  When I open Activity Monitor,

 I can't find what the virus or malware calls itself, so I can't get rid of it.  Any and all help would be appreciated.  I have run Malware bytes, but it did not find the virus or malware.  I Ran Intego virus scan. This program did not find the malware or virus.  I need some help.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/1069675f-66f6-48d3-a889-e69428226ee8

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/1750acfb-c7df-420d-b2a5-7464a8d55700

Scam/phishing...

ref:

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls ...

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

"I Ran Intego virus scan"...

Third party AntiVirus is not recommended— it typically does nothing but add issues to the macOS and competes directly with Apple’s own built in security:

macOS - Security - Apple macOS - Security - Apple

Apple Platform Security - Apple Apple Platform Security - Apple Support

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/Anti-Virus/VPN

If you suspect you have installed adware/malware:

>System Preferences>Profiles click into it and then remove all the suspicious things from the list. (This Preference pane will not be present if no profiles found.)

also Verify you are not using SOCKS proxy:

>System Preferences>Networks>Advanced>Proxy uncheck the box [Ventura >System Settings> search “Proxy”]

Adware/malware launch daemons can set SOCKS proxies without user participation.

(SOCKS is an Internet protocol that exchanges network packets between a client and server through a proxy server.)

Adware Removal Guide—Manual removal of : http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-identification/

or

This is a trusted utility https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/ in free trial, not necessary to leave this utility running after you use it . Uninstall it.

gordonreed wrote:

Well, that's good news, but how do I get rid of all the pop-ups that keep telling me my OS has a virus, my bank account is being robbed, my iCloud is infected, etc? Your help is greatly appreciated. I am 78 years old and have no idea how to fix my Mac computer.

At least some of those popups are coming from web sites. So don't go to those web sites.

If you see pop-up in the upper right corner of the screen, those are notifications. Most likely, these are from websites too. Go to Safari > Settings > Websites > Notifications and remove everything in the list. Make sure the box that says "Allow websites to ask for permission to send notification" is turned off.

So you did not fall for the McAfee scam yet you installed Intego.

Uninstall Intego. Then try booting your computer in safe mode.

You can post an Etrecheck report here so that we can see what else you've installed that is not necessary.

You've been hit by one of the worst scammers out there, McAfee. First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This documents describe what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community and Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.  

There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   

Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.

There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is designed solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  

McAfee has popups on different websites looking to scam unsuspecting users into sending them money.

In Safari make sure this checkbox is selected in Safari's Settings:

If you think you may have incurred adware or malware use the free version of Malwarebytes.

gordonreed wrote:

Thank you everyone for trying to help me rid my computer of this horrendous virus.

You don't have a virus. You never did.

I have tried everything suggested including downloading and running Malwarebytes, and I also purchased the Intego program.

Contact Intego and see if you can get a refund. Explain how you were scammed. If they refuse, contact your credit card company and dispute the charge. This is just a scam. The internet is full of such scams.

McAfee isn't involved with this in any way. Not one iota. The scammers used their name to make the "threat" sound more realistic. It's based on the premise most (Windows users in particular) have some kind of AV software installed. They then just hope you happen to be using McAfee so it seems legitimate.

It's the same trick as getting messages or emails saying there's a problem with your Chase bank account. Except, you don't have a Chase account and never did. The target is, once again, people who do so it sounds legitimate.

You don't have any virus. You never had a virus. It was all a scam.