Pop-up, malware?

Question

Pop-up, malware?

Almost two weeks ago I started getting random pop-ups in Chrome (Version 35.0.1916.153) on Mavericks 10.9.4

Initially they appeared as a "take our survey" message from all.donkeycorn.eu (I never clicked on the link - choosing to

force quit Chrome in order to get rid of it, no other options for closing the window would work.) I tried various "fixes"

involving cleaning out stray cookies, which is all I could locate after extensive searching and reading.

Now I'm getting these pop-ups. I have used TSM Adware removal (as suggested in other threads here) but to no avail.

Again, extensive searching and reading hasn't produced any other suggestions. When the pop-up appears I've tried to

track the process in Activity Monitor, but that has not borne fruit.

No, I haven't clicked on either link in this pop-up, either!

Any suggestions are welcome.

Posted on Jul 10, 2014 6:20 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 10, 2014 7:30 AM in response to kitfromwilmington

Does the same thing happen in Safari?

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Answer 2

jamieorc

Level 1

5 points

Jul 10, 2014 9:15 AM in response to Linc Davis

Several of us in my office have this problem, which also started for us about two weeks ago. It's happening on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. We are all on Mavericks. Notably, a user on 10.6.8 on a non-intel machine is not having this problem. We have found no solution to this severe annoyance.

Anyone at Apple know what to do about this?

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Answer 3

Jul 10, 2014 1:02 PM in response to jamieorc

Just click leave probably. That pop up is part of all.donkeycorn.eu's design codes... Not a malware...

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Answer 4

jamieorc

Level 1

5 points

Jul 10, 2014 1:59 PM in response to ebmontejo

It's some kind of mal-adware that has either infected our network or machines in my office. Unwanted, annoying and no way to turn it off.

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Answer 5

tbirdvet

Level 6

13,617 points

Jul 10, 2014 2:11 PM in response to kitfromwilmington

I had the same issue only a different set of ads using Chrome. To stop these you need to do two things. First go into your Chrome tools, extensions and delete any items that you do not recognize. Then install the free Adblock Plus extension which will prevent any new ads from popping up. Both those I did and now no more pop up ads.

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Answer 6

Jul 10, 2014 3:27 PM in response to Linc Davis

It hasn't - but I don't use Safari often, so I can't say that it won't happen if I use it for an extended period of time.

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 10, 2014 3:31 PM in response to kitfromwilmington

I agree with the suggestion to prune your Chrome extensions.

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Answer 8

Jul 10, 2014 3:34 PM in response to Linc Davis

I have exactly three extensions installed - FlashFree (keeps flash from playing automatically) Google Calendar Checker and Clean Print.

Adblock Plus would make four.

I'm pretty much a minimalist when it comes to my browser set up.

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 10, 2014 4:02 PM in response to kitfromwilmington

I've heard of AdBlock, but I have no idea what the others do because I don't use Chrome. The question was whether the issue is limited to Chrome, and your response suggests that it is. If so, removing Chrome extensions is the most likely way to resolve it.

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Answer 10

Jul 10, 2014 7:43 PM in response to Linc Davis

I haven't added any extensions in many, many months and the behavior has only been going on for a couple of weeks. I've installed AdBlock Plus, so I'll see how that goes.

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Answer 11

Jul 10, 2014 8:28 PM in response to kitfromwilmington

<http://www.thesafemac.com/art/>

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Answer 12

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Jul 13, 2014 7:01 AM in response to kitfromwilmington

It sounds like this problem is not being caused by any known adware. It could be something brand new, but more likely, it's a site-specific issue or a network compromise issue. See:

http://www.thesafemac.com/arg-other-causes/

(Fair disclosure: The Safe Mac is my site, and contains a Donate button, so I may receive compensation for providing links to The Safe Mac. Donations are not required.)

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Answer 13

Aug 2, 2014 10:34 AM in response to kitfromwilmington

I am getting lots of pop-ups and also new browser windows opening up behind the scenes after clicking a bad video viewer link off the web (my bad!).

It is in Safari and Chrome. There is nothing in the extensions. the problem is hidden somewhere else, I can't find it. I am thinking of doing a super duper clone restore from a month ago the problem is so annoying. I will try adblocker first.

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