Safari-Alert ?scam?

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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This just happened on my iPhone 7.

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.

I need to clarify, I didn't attempt to use download CleanMyMac, my scamdar went off as soon as I saw it. I couldn't get the window prompting me to download it to dismiss. There was an OK button which when clicked would simply re-prompt the message. It was a brutal cycle that I couldn't even open Safai Preferences, change windows, dismiss or hide, Safari 8.0 BTW was trapped by this malicious prompt to call for a solution.

Stephisa's suggestion:

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.

Work perfectly for me, with a Shift+Open Safari I was able to beat the page prompt cycle and close the window out, but only after deleting the Cache.db file. Hope that clarifies.

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)?

Yes they accessed my mac and installed CCleaner for Mac form Piriform Ltd. They used Disk Utility>Verify/Repair permissions and then said I had to use the installed app every week to prevent future unauthorized access. Unfortunately the Safari Screnn was grayed out with the message "Safari can't Access the URL..." and was showing the Apple Support phone number which was exactly the same number in the alert, that why I called them.

They may have installed a cracked version of the app. Delete CCleaner and whatever app they used to remotely access your Mac. Most applications can be uninstalled by dragging them from the Applications folder to the trash.

Legitimate companies seldom use pop-ups in this manner, so if you see such a pop-up in the future, research it before calling the number or anything. I would also dispute the $160 charge with your credit card company since these guys are scammers claiming to be Apple.

stevejobsfan0123 wrote:

I would also dispute the $160 charge with your credit card company since these guys are scammers claiming to be Apple.

You should notify your credit card company because they will probably want to cancel your card number and issue you a new one. Who knows where your numbers have been?

I had the same thing happen with the pop up and the number to call. I did call the number out of desperation to fix the problem, was on hold for 30 minutes, and then spoke to someone. I was suspicious if it was a legitimate apple number or not, so I asked and the 'tech" told me it was. The "tech" asked for my computer make (MacBook Pro), my first/last name, my birthdate, and email/username. This information I gave. He didn't ask for my social security # or password and I wouldn't ever give those anyways. He also never asked me to buy anything and I don't believe anything was installed. He told me to shut the computer down and hold the shift bar down and then log back on. The pop-up remained after I did this. I was put on hold again and eventually we were disconnected. I went on this site on my iPhone and fixed the problem with help from here......A BIG THANKS! I am worried now if I gave too much information to that number that I could now be a victim of identify theft. Thanks for any help and advice on what to do now!

My wife just got it (again) now. To fix it without disconnecting the internet and without going "under the hood", I just restarted Safari while pressing the shift key then use the new "Clear history and Website Data..." in the Safari menu and selected clear the past hour. After restating Safari normally (not pressing the shift key), the problem is gone.

Edit: to quit Safari when the problem is there, I simply used Command-Q (no need for Force-Quit)

the same thing happen to me and I gave to them my card information for charge too, and anyone could help me how to delete what they installed on my computer? and after that what should I do I really sacre to use my computer again.

This seemed to work for me, when I restarted the WiFi was off and it took some "really" quick closing the window that caused the problem, but it looks like it did the trick. And just as promised, I continue browsing with both my pride and my money so thank you!

I just had this happen to me, i have Clean My Mac installed on my mac, and to fix i just disconnected from the internet, ran the cleaner, restarted my computer, cleared all website data. That worked for me, hope it works for anyone else having the issue, DO NOT give them what they want, they are not Apple.

I Disconnected and tried to clean data before running my program, it did not help, I'm not saying this will help everyone I sm saying what I did and it worked for me. CleanMyMac is a legit program. Not a scam, the real scam is whiever is doing this to get money.

I attempted to open safari without a connection hoping the message would not show up, but it still did, with the message there I could not oorn the menu tab which would allow me to select the "clear wedsite data" option. That was only available after the cleaning. There are probably 100 other ways to do it but seeing I had the program already, that's what I used. Don't but anything just to clean this off, deleting cache manually should work too.