not-a-virus:AdWare.OSX.Vsrch.a Please help Thomas Reed

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Level 1

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not-a-virus:AdWare.OSX.Vsrch.a Please help Thomas Reed

Hi I have a Macbook pro OS X Yosemite version 10.10.5 . The problem started when i received a email from a advisor which I opened and said click on this link. I did not click on the link and deleted it immediately. But for some reason I assume because I opened it, my contacts were immediately hijacked and they sent out a similar email to all my contacts. I have already warned them not to open or click on the link on their own computers. Apple couldn't help me figure out what was going on so I tried Malwarebytes but it found nothing. I then tried Kaspersky which found not-a-virus:AdWare.OSX.Vsrch.a. So far it has deleted all of it but I want to make sure it is completely gone from my computer and email. I also put filters on my gmail to block any email with the title of the phishing email. Your advice would be greatly appreciated on what I have to do next.

Since Thomas Reed has helped people in similar situations I was wondering if there was anything you could do to help me. I'm not sure if it is a new type of adware or not since the known was is a trojan but thats not what was found. Thank you

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), ADWARE ISSUE

Posted on Sep 8, 2015 2:21 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Sep 8, 2015 8:23 AM in response to Sabon001

The Kaspersky product, like all others of its kind, is worthless. Perhaps you had an old VSearch infection that had already been inactivated when you updated OS X, or perhaps there was no infection and Kaspersky deleted who knows what.

Remove "Kaspersky Security" by following the instructions on this page. If you have a different version of the product, the procedure may be different. The product includes a Safari extension that may not be removed by the uninstaller.

Back up all data before making any changes. Never install any commercial "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" software again.

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Answer 2

D.Cohen

Level 6

8,618 points

Sep 8, 2015 2:27 AM in response to Sabon001

Hi! I'm not Thomas Reed, but I think my instructions are quite similar to what he suggests to do in such situations 🙂

Use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php

You can also remove the adware manually using the steps provided by Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987

After that, make sure your default search engine is set to the one you always use. To do so, Open Safari - Preferences - Search.

Go to Safari menu (At the very top right side of your screen next to Apple icon), choose "Quit Safari"

press "Shift" button and while holding this button on your keyboard single click on the Safari icon on your Dock.

Open Safari - Preferences - Privacy - Remove All Website Data.

Also, I believe it would be a good idea to install AdBlock.

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Answer 3

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,031 points

Sep 8, 2015 5:59 AM in response to Sabon001

I responded via e-mail, but figured I'd post here to help anyone else having similar issues.

That doesn't actually have anything to do with opening that e-mail message on your Mac... doing that cannot infect your Mac. The VSearch adware that Kaspersky found was unrelated to this incident.

What has happened somehow is that your e-mail account has been hacked. You'll need to change the password on your e-mail account immediately, and then change the password on any account of any kind that is linked to that e-mail account.

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