Q: What to do if malware or trojans found

I Am sorry to tell you you were taken. That junk you installed is BIG trouble. I would have the credit card reissued with a new number. I would also reinstall OS X from the recovery disk. I think reinstalling is easier than trying to clean out all that stuff.

A/V software is, IMHO, completely unnecessary as there are NO documented viruses that affect a Mac running OS X.

Barry

Unfortunately, you were the victim of a scam; did you get the phone number after doing a Google search?

I agree with Barry; first call your credit card company and report the possibility of fraud. Make sure you back up your files. Then erase your hard drive using recovery and reinstall the OS. Do NOT reinstall MacKeeper - it is of no use. You can move your files back, but do so one by one and test each one to see if it is problem free.

Completely agree with the others on the points of reporting fraud to institution and restore a healthy backup from time machine. There is no need for anti-virus on Mac. I've seen quite a bit of Mackeeper ads around, but never dare to try it. Because the way it forcing ads open in popup windows alerts me.

Im interested to know how you get contacted by the scums, and whether they "fixed" your yahoo email issue or not. Maybe u can share the story, so others can learn from it to protect themselves, if you are in the mood.

If you need help to delete some apps that root deeply in the system, you can try "cleanapp ". I only use it to delete apps and their data. It has served that purpose well. Other than that, I think Mac is pretty much maintenance free.

If the backup you loaded was made before the scam, you should be fine. As I said, A/V software is, IMHO, useless on a Mac running OS X.

It will be obvious if you have Malware or Adware. The best way to be safe us to stay away from strange sites and never download anything from unknown sources.

Barry

Based on internet reports of this scam, they do not typically install malware, especially on a Mac where there is so little to install. They are more likely to randomly delete files to further destabilize your machine and extort more money. Actual malware is not likely, but remote control and key loggers are a possibility.

I wrote a little diagnostic program to help show what is running in the background on your machine. Download EtreCheck from http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck, run it, and paste the results here. EtreCheck is perfectly safe to run, does not ask for your password to install, and is signed with my Apple Developer ID.

Disclaimer: Although EtreCheck is free, there are other links on my site that could give me some form of compensation, financial or otherwise.

Thanks for sharing the story. I understand that people sometimes are just carried away by the scams under frustrating circumstances. So it is always good to know the plots to be preventative.

There are some big name antivirus companies like AVG and Avast that release mac edition products. But there are both pros and cons, for which you could search in several major mac user forums. There is also ClamXav that is designed for mac from open source antivirus engine. I actually tried it back in 2007. Never had it caught any virus though, so it didn't last too long in my system. I haven't heard any exemplified antivirus software or malware removal tools on OSX. I think at least part of reason is because there is few virus or malware in the wild. Any security holes will rise public attention then get fixed soon enough by Apple itself or third parties. If you want a peace of mind, you could try ClamXav. It is free and open source. I recommend it because I actually used it myself for months and know it will not cause any major lag or damage system files.

I think you should also investigate into Yahoo server and Mail app to see if the problem is on server side or client side. Maybe there is some change on server side that causes the issue. If nothing is wrong or changed on server side, then maybe there is some change in mail app... It is always a pain to look through these things. Some are really too technical for avg users. Mail gave me problems in the past, while I didn't touch any settings at all. Don't get me started on that... But after all, if there is really a vicious malware or virus damaging your system, there should be evidence.

I had this problem as well. Yahoo mail sent spam mail to all my contacts. Phoned what i thought was Yahoo help. Same thing. I had to download Team Viewer so they had remote access to my computer and they downloaded MacKeeper. They wanted payment and I said I had no money in my bank account (true) so I would pay by PayPal. They said their company didn't accept PayPal but would phone me back. Twenty minutes later they phoned back and said that they could now take PayPal . They gave me an email address of a person and their bank details. I sent them £150 by Pay Pal. This company had remote access and I left them to it while I went out. When I came back my computer had shut down. I started it up and ran MacKeeper to see if my computer had been cleaned and it showed me the same page as the company had shown me....serious ! At this point I realised I had been scammed. Funnily enough I had a phone call from the company the following day to ask if everything was Ok. I let rip!! They told me to email billing@techy-9.co.uk and explain situation and they would refund my money. I also notified PayPal and now have a dispute settlement  going on. I managed eventually to remove Mackeeper and Clean my Mac  and Team Viewer off my computer. Changed my Yahoo password and installed the new operating system El Cantino.?

The company deleted all my emails and my contact list which I have now reinstalled from the cloud?? This morning I have opened my Yahoo mail and the top banner ad is for MacKeeper. I am now so wary about any sites giving me details of how to get rid of malware, trojans, pop up ads.

HELP

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