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http://firewallerror.com popup ad locks Safari

T 5 May 2015: I received an email, that had been sent to one of our "Educational Institution's" "System email addresses", which had been delivered to one of our "Public Folders"

It said it had a VoiceMail embedded & when I {Stupidly} selected the Green "Play" button,

a new Tab opened in Safari entitled "Home" with the URL Address:


firewallerror.com/?traffic_source=1693


which had "Action Required" & "Help" in a Black Header Bar & a Popup was in front of that, which could NOT be "OK"d out of to get to Safari System Preferences

and all COULD BE DONE was to Exit Safari, & COULD NOT go to any other Tab or New Window


The PERSISTENT Popup had the following text:


http://firewallerror.com/

[{Safari} logo in Upper Left Corner]

Critical Security Warning! Critical Security Warning! Your PC is infected with a malicious virus attack.


Please contact tech support at 1-888-795-3573 and provide error code WBACK7917 to scan and resolve any potential threats to your personal and financial information, which was being tracked by suspicious connection.


Consequently we are performing additional security checks to verify the source of the attack and have halted all your system resources in order to prevent any additional damage to your system and information.


Please call customer service at 1-888-795-3573 to resolve issues.


[{OK} button in Lower Right Corner]

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013

Posted on May 5, 2015 5:50 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on May 5, 2015 5:53 PM

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems


If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide, remove adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac, and AdwareMedic. If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.) You might consider adding this Safari extensions: Adblock Plus 1.8.9.


Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.


The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.


Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari.


Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.


Quit Safari


Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.


Relaunch Safari


If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.


This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

May 5, 2015 5:53 PM in response to StevenInTempe

Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems


If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide, remove adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac, and AdwareMedic. If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.) You might consider adding this Safari extensions: Adblock Plus 1.8.9.


Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.


The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.


Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari.


Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.


Quit Safari


Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.


Relaunch Safari


If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.


This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.

http://firewallerror.com popup ad locks Safari

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