Safari-Alert ?scam?

1. Some of those scam pages can be dismissed very easily. Press command-W to close the tab or window. A huge box will pop up. Press the return key and both the box and the page will close. If that doesn't happen, continue.

2. From the Safari menu bar, select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Security

and uncheck the box marked Enable JavaScript. Leave the preferences dialog open.

Close the malicious window or tab.

Re-enable JavaScript and close the preferences dialog.

3. If the Preferences menu item is grayed out, quit Safari. Force quit if necessary. Relaunch it by holding down the shift key and clicking its icon in the Dock. From the menu bar, select

Safari ▹ Preferences... ▹ Privacy ▹ Remove All Website Data

to get rid of any cookies or other data left by the server. Open your Downloads folder and delete anything you don't recognize.

I assure that Apple is interested in pursuing these nefarious folks, but they must rely on

1. smart folks that see these things for what they are - *** Jobs
2. folks that do NOT follow the primrose path and get scammed
3. folks that report as much info as possible about the incident so that the culprits can be tracked down

This is more than a phishing attempt, it is very close to robbery, IMHO.

on the New and Improved Contact Us page, see how to contact Apple Legal

normally, we see a LOT of phishing email reports here, to which we respond:

Phishing & Other Suspicious Emails

FORWARD to reportphishing@apple.com

Identifying fraudulent "phishing" email - Apple Support

Identifying legitimate emails from the iTunes Store - Apple Support

The closest I can find to the appropriate place to report such extortion is http://www.apple.com/legal/contact/ - there is a pull-down menu where one can choose topics... I chose [ Counterfeit and knock-off products ] which produces a form where one can report the "fraudulent Apple Support Company"

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I had the same "alert" so I followed the instructions they (apparently Apple Support) gave me, and I had to paid $160 for a online service to solve the issue and "clean" my mac.

The phone number and e-mail of TECH CARE LIVE INC the company that provided the supposed support is

Thanks SteveJobsfan0123:

I deleted the CCleanner app with my "AppCleanner" application and I also looked for the remote access app they used to "clean" my mac , however I couldn't find it. It looked something like this when they requested to access it :

I hope it was disconnected when they finished the process, if not is there any way to prevent them to access my mac without my authorization?

Finally I already submitted an stop payment claim to my Bank.

One of my users got this panel:

while connected to APexchange.com (Notice that the phone number is a bit different.) We will report it to them as well as apple. (I suspect that the scammers have bought a pop-up ad.)

Had a similar issue just pop up on the wifes laptop related to Safari. The number this time was 1-800-811-1749. Fella had an indian accent and was annoyed when I started asking who he worked for. Said if I had issues or needed further confirmation to go to the Apple store. (as though everyone has one of those nearby) Screen shot it below:

I'm new to mac and had same problem. I typed same website address to firefox and when I closed dialog window firefox asked me if i want to open next dialog window (i ticked that don't) Website is www. applealert .co.uk/popup (no spaces- do not open it in safari 😉 )

what works is to delete safari cash file, turn off internet, open safari, close problem tab/window, then turn internet again.

att image is firefox screenshoot and its inspector tab.

THX thedb84 for tip

Laurent Seroude wrote:

Same issue here but I did not call since it is not a phone# from Apple, do you know the shortcut to disable Javascript (menu are not accessible and there is no shortcut in the develop menu on my MacBook)?

Force quit Safari. Press Command ⌘ + option + esc, select Safari, press Force Quit. While holding the 'shift' key, click the Safari icon in the dock to relaunch it. If this doesn't work, disconnect from the Internet and then relaunch Safari normally. This should prevent the malicious webpage from reloading, and should give you access to the menu bar.

Once the menu bar is accessible again, go to Safari > Preferences, or press Command ⌘ and the , (comma) key. Go to the Advanced tab. Click the check box to enable the Develop menu. Then go to Develop > Disable JavaScript.

I allowed access to them too... I closed the page where they were controlling my mac. Do they still have control of my mac? If they do, how do i completely disconnect with them. I gave them my number n my email address. I hung up before making payments, so i didnt give them the credit card info and stuff. By the way they didnt install any app. They downloaded some webpage tho. I force quit safari and now its working properly. But the problems are, that I agreed to what they said once, and its probably recorded. and the other one is, that they once had control of my pc. plz help

Read the advise on : Apple Support Communities / Mac OS & System Software / OS X Mavericks

use the link: Re: detect recent installed unauthorized remote control applications

and follow the instructions of Linc Davis to get rid off any application they may have installed on your pc. It worked for me.

I'm glad it worked for you, but I wouldn't want anyone else to download a scam when they've already been plagued with a pop-up scam.

You can see more discussions on CleanMyMac here: https://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?type=discussion&showAnsweredFirst=true &q=cleanmymac&sort=updatedDesc.

And here's a good particular one: Re: how to delete tuneupmymac (the title says tuneupmymac, but read MichelPM's comments about Cleanmymac).

When you say:

I Disconnected and tried to clean data before running my program, it did not help

How did you attempt to manually "clean data?"

I had Mac-alerts.com on safari. I followed how to remove unwanted adware for Mac Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support .

Went to the store. they told me to call apple care. called apple care and the tech did what i already did and then asked me to use adware searcher.

keep searching for a while and could not find a solution for it. Then i called a friend of mine. he told me to do this. download this free adware remover tool Adwaremedic http://www.adwaremedic.com/AdwareMedic.dmg

Search for the files in a sec and removed them. Asked me to reboot. and the problems is solved. never had it again.

I did take it off after that because the program keep popping up for donations when i start my Mac. but after i removed it. All good.

Give it a try .

Have a nice one.

Sam

This worked perfect for me, may be it will work for you too. follow the instruction given by Apple support in this link Remove unwanted adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac - Apple Support

Crivellone

You did good = EXCEPT you DOWNLOADED what they told you!

Consider your Mac compromised.

See the replies in Anybody hear of Geek Technical Support? They seemed to know what they were doing, but their business practices were suspicious. - especially the ones from etresoft and thomas_r

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Hi all,

Just got the problem on Yosemite this morning. First, this is clearly a SCAM, and a pretty frustrating one. As previously mentioned, legitimate company don't block your application/system in order to force you to call them and get your money. Also the domain name is NOT a legitimate apple domain name. The most significant information on a domain name is at the right (not at the left). So if it does not END with apple.com then beware.

The problem on Yosemite is a bit more resistant. None of the techniques above worked for me.

But I managed to escape anyway by combining multiple techniques.

• First, quit Safari. To do this, press COMMAND, OPTION and ESC keys together to bring the Force Quit windows. Select Safari in the list and press the Force Quit button.
• Second: disconnect your mac COMPLETELY from the internet (WiFi, Ethernet cable, anything).
• Third: erase the following file ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db

  You can do this using

  • (a) a terminal windows that you can find under the utilities folder in the application folder.
    • Then type in the command rm ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Cache.db
  • (b) you can use the Finder window.
    • Go under <your home directory> and then select Go-->Go to Folder (in the menu bar)
    • Type in the following directory Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari and delete the Cache.db file.
• Four, restart Safari,
  • Then close ALL Safari windows except for the main window (keep only one Safari window).
  • In the Safari main windows, delete ALL tabs.
• Five, you can now restart your internet connection and continue browsing and have a normal life with ALL your money and pride intact.

Cheers !

/Stephane.