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Is MacKeeper a legitimate program?

I am concerned about this app named "MacKeeper". It's very weird, and I'm not 100% sure it's legitimate. Is it real or a scam? Here's a screenshot:


User uploaded file

Is this app real or a scam? People here on Apple Support Communities think MacKeeper is a scam and they tell you that you must uninstall it now. MacKeeper displays a lot of distracting popups and notifications, and for doing almost anything requires you pay for the registered version.


Message was edited by: Brandon Sky

iPod and iTunes-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Sep 8, 2012 1:56 AM

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Posted on Feb 11, 2017 11:25 AM

I was viewing a legitimate car page to see new models, and a "Flash media" download appeared to view new car videos from an American car page. After I did so, the videos so play, but a MacKeeper and other scan your computer popups appeared. I've deleted them from from the Finder icon on my MacBook. But the MacKeeper stays on and continually pops up wanting to scan my MacBook, and even put a "eye" icon on top of screen tool bar. How do I unistall the MacKeeper? I always use the iTunes updates and security downloads. Thank you!

219 replies

Apr 8, 2014 7:25 AM in response to WZZZ

yea, I agree with you this might be right, but dont you think that if they took/ or did such positive reviewes from Macworld , brothersoft.com. such a legitimate sites and have respectful reputation among others (computers user, developer, etc.) that they will not law sue them (especially in todays world, one can sue anyone for a simplist case).

Apr 8, 2014 7:44 AM in response to maharitho

I am like brendanMcnelly said concerned with security and keeping my MBP smooth and fast.


Then MacKeeper is not for you.


Regarding the issue of keeping your machine running fast, have you actually done any benchmarks? If not, you probably just feel that MacKeeper makes your machine faster because it's been on there for so long. Perhaps you may have even had some corrupt caches that were causing a real problem, and that made MacKeeper's "cleaning" appear to work initially.


However, the kind of "cleaning" that MacKeeper, and other apps of its ilk, does is not something that is needed on a Mac. In fact, it can actually harm the performance of your machine, or if if gets a bit overzealous or suffers from an error, can damage your system.


For more information, see The myth of the dirty Mac.


As for security, MacKeeper offers only one real piece of security: the Avira anti-virus engine. You would do better, if you wanted to run that, to uninstall MacKeeper and install Avira itself, which is completely free.


You would be wise to do further reading on the issue of protecting yourself against malware. See my Mac Malware Guide.


Finally, note that the major printed Mac magazines have basically become shills for anyone who can pay them, since their business model of supplying a printed magazine that is a month outdated by the time it's mailed is beginning to fail in the face of always up-to-date online news sources. They were paid to review MacKeeper, and did so without any real scrutiny.


If you're interested in the opinions of people who have given it scrutiny, you should note that MacKeeper is currently the subject of a class-action lawsuit:


http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/lawsuit-challenges-mackeepers-clean-computer -claims-012114.html

Apr 8, 2014 7:51 AM in response to maharitho

MacKeeper, or the 911 Bundle as it was sold by in the App Store has been pulled for good reason. Apple doesn't remove titles without cause.


The "positive" review in Macworld was shortly after MacKeeper's release. Read the comments under the review to see what people think of Macworld's article. It's not glowing.


As WZZZ noted, Zeobit (who no longer supposedly own MacKeeper) has been well known and proven to pay people to post positive reviews. Usually in the form of a free copy of the software.


The common giveaway to these paid positive reviews is the same thing you just saw here. A new user to these forums just happened to run across a topic on MacKeeper, and just happened to make their very first post a puppies and rainbows report of how wonderful the software is.


To see this in full action, go to MacUpdate and read through as much of 498 pages of comments as you want. Find any positive review and click on the person's screen name. Try and find any such person who has posted more than three times on MacUpdate's site that is about anything than how wonderful MacKeeper is.

Apr 8, 2014 8:14 AM in response to maharitho

This recent court case is illuminating:


http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/01/21/64695.htm Quoted below


"CHICAGO (CN) - A class action claims ZeoBIT defrauds customers by saying its MacKeeper software can spot performance problems on Mac computers, but labels every computer as "at risk" and in need of repair.

Lead plaintiff Gregory Ward sued ZeoBIT, a California LLC, in Cook County Chancery Court.

"ZeoBIT develops software that it claims will increase the speed, performance, and stability of a consumer's Macintosh personal computer by removing harmful errors, and eliminating privacy and security threats," the complaint states.

"Unfortunately, as described more fully herein, ZeoBIT uses a common deceptive scheme to trick consumers into purchasing its MacKeeper software, which ultimately fails to deliver the utility ZeoBIT promises."



For more about ‘astruturfing’ (writing phoney product reviews for money) see here:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing


and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24299742

Apr 8, 2014 9:07 AM in response to Klaus1

thomas_r. wrote:


They were paid to review MacKeeper, and did so without any real scrutiny.



To All,

Please find edited copies of 2 emails sent to me by Serge Sosnyak, at the time, Marketing / PR of Zeobit LLC

Just in case anyone has still a shred of doubt on how it works ...


It was 2010. Shortly thereafter the marketing crap and scare tactics started and I did not pursue. Nevertheless, if I recall correctly, the commission on sales was up to 30%. To compare, Amazon gives you roughly 7%

At 25 -30%, I know a lot of guys that will simply post online what they have been kindly "suggested" to post, or find, after that the said product is doing nothing short of curing cancer.


Fyi, I still have the long headers, including IP's and all. Just in case someone thinks they are made up emails. No, I will NOT post my email address: I am not Brendan.



On MondayOct 25, 2010, at 11:32 AM, Serge Sosnyak wrote:


Dear ************,
********************Surely I will be able to provide you with a free license for testing MacKeeper for a review.
Please send me your registered mail on our site and I will be able to provide you with a free license.

**************

**************

*********************Also I can offer you to participate in our

affiliate program and get revenue working with us. I think this will be interesting for you. Please let me know what do you think on this?

*********************


Regards

Serge

Apr 8, 2014 10:41 AM in response to Steve HC19

I also received similar messages. Like this one:


Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 14:47:37 +0200 Subject: paid review of our products From: Mike Clark To: [redacted] Hello Mr Reed, We are interested in some consulting services from you. Could you please get back with me and let me know what you would charge per hour for a software review. Thanks, Mike Clark

Oct 26, 2015 5:11 AM in response to Swooperman

Swooperman wrote:


I have used MacKeeper for five years and have never had any problems with it. I had a few questions over the years and got fantastic online help and advise. Nobody paid me to say any of this. I am suspicious of all the people posting negative things a bout MacKeeper. Someone is paying them maybe.

Really? Your only post here is to praise MacKeeper, and you are accusing people of being paid to speak about how bad MacKeeper really is? Yeah, no bias there at all. Perhaps the folks that initiated the class action lawsuit against MacKeeper would convince you of the vile App that is MacKeeper.

Is MacKeeper a legitimate program?

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