How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

Advanced Mac Cleaner just happened to me this morning [a].

It came with a few other sneaky folders in my Applications area.

I was able to solve it with my bare hands - without downloading any other programs

( been burned once on that today ... ).

Solution :

1) In my Applications folder, I found and deleted the following using the Finder [b] :

* Advanced Mac Cleaner

* CoreUpdates

* OptiBuy

2) I also had to go to Chrome preferences and fix my default search search engine and default home page which had been changed. While I was there, I deleted the caches for the last few hours.

3) Then I went to System Preferences -> user accounts -> login items, and removed the unwanted apps from there.

4) Next, I rebooted, and made sure everything worked : with no pop-ups, no programs being started.

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[a] I think this happened when a website asked me to install an update to Flash Player ...

I guess it was not the FlashPlayer ... doh !

[b] Here were the new things in my applications folder.

"CoreUpdates" sounds important but I checked and it did not exist on my computer yesterday.

Help please.

Hubby has just downloaded AND paid for Advanced Mac Cleaner via a company called Paddle, I believe this to be a scam, please tell me if you think this is legit?

Please give me your thoughts on what to do now and if there is any chance of getting the money put back on his C Card. I think he is a numpty!!

Thanks a lot - this fixed the problem! Not exactly like you described it, because my finder did not cooperate. It would just not show the file/folder you mentioned after control click > Services > Reveal... Instead it would show a folder I'd just used before. (Luckily I realised that I shouldn't delete that one...)

I went on terminal windows to delete the file/folders in the command line. Hadn't done this in a while and needed to remember the dangerous "rm -r".

I checked when all these files were created, and indeed, they all had the same time stamp!

I restarted the computer a few times and the silly Cleaner pop up window doesn't appear any more :-)

I noticed another used mentioned he had probably gotten this thing from downloading flash player and I think that was the same for me.

Thanks again

The AdwareMedic app referred to in the post marked Apple Recommended was legit, but that was 2015... it's no longer available, as AdwareMedic has now become Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac.

Currently, be cautious of anything calling itself AdwareMedic. There have been several fake AdwareMedic apps taking advantage of the name recognition to scam people, one of which is still in the Mac App Store.

This thread started nearly 19 months ago. If you have recently thought someone is lying to you I suggest you start a new thread with details of where this 'lie' came from. We may then be able to help further.

I cannot believe this post from Benkil. The problem started some two years ago with MacCleaner. Everyone knows it is the guarantee of trouble. How you could have solved a problem with it without encountering a dozen other problems is quite beyond me.

Hi Seventy One.

Yes, MacCleaner caused the problem. And yes I solved it.

And although I am a PhD physicist, I am no genius.

So you can believe it. Notice I am not trying to sell anything: just help.

By the way, it definitely got installed on my computer when I mistakenly

installed "Flash Player" from a fake website. I have the FlashPlayer.dmg

file in case there are any people out there who know what to do with it.

I won't have time to respond any more, but I wanted to share my experience

to save people from wasting time. If posting a helpful message is an invitation

for someone to call me a liar, I certainly won't post anymore. If perhaps you

think I am not a real person, maybe you can send me a message, and I can explain

physics to you.

Thank amazing jelly. this worked for me, at least I was able to find the file in LaunchAgents folder and move to Trash.

I did not have a folder with my username though, I just clicked on the icon for the Mac HD in my Finder list and then I saw Library/LaunchAgents etc.....thanks very much.....

always looking for the forced quit to remove the advanced mac cleaner, but everytime i open my computer YHIS ADVANCED MAC CLEANER IS ALWAYS THERE, AM A SENIOR PAST MY 70S AND THIS MAKES ME HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!!

Download this program which was written by Thomas Reed, a long time poster. The program will do the work for you which makes it easy.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac 10.9 and later

What should I do if Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac didn't solve my problem?

Advanced Mac Cleaner uninstall (2)

What I did was

I restarted my laptop and as soon as the Mac Cleaner popped up, I right clicked the icon and chose "open in Finder".

Then I dragged it to my trash can and emptied the trash. Hope this helps!

jcsongg wrote:

What I did was

I restarted my laptop and as soon as the Mac Cleaner popped up, I right clicked the icon and chose "open in Finder".

Then I dragged it to my trash can and emptied the trash. Hope this helps!

You have not removed it correctly.

Re: Remove Mac Cleaner instructions . this is all well and good but one thing Ive learned is not to click on links that I don't know. So heres my question; Why can't you give instructions that take me through the operation on my Mac without clicking a link? I had only downloaded Flash and Skype (new Mac) so I think I know where where it came from. I see the application icon. Why can't I just trash it? Im a new Mac user and wonder if theres a way to see who the culprit is that snuck it in. on windows I can go to control panel and delete the downloaded program lock stock and barrel why all the contortions?

You need to ask yourself why you came to this forum in the first place. If you feel that it was a wise thing to do, I agree. The people here are hugely knowledgeable about Apple and the systems it operates.

If they recommennd a course of action you can be pretty sure it is sensible. Others would very quickly put the matter to rights otherwise. Have faith.

seventy one wrote:

And you believed them? Think about it, that's how they sell their service to you.

If he scanned with Malwarebytes after dragging the Advanced Mac Cleaner app to the trash, then it probably would detect 7 other things left behind. Malwarebytes wouldn't call those things "viruses," but please remember that the average person is not familiar with the distinctions between viruses and other malicious software, and will use the term "virus" as a catch-all for malicious software. We should not expect people to have the same knowledge that we do.