How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

I have just noticed on My Macbook Air that window pop up on my Macbook Air apps Advanced Mac Cleaner and inform me that its start to scan my Mac and save my Macbook from errors.


Last night my younger brother was used my Macbook Air and i suppose accidentally he was installed this utility. Is it good for my Mac or should i uninstalled it right now. Because scan is complete already and its shows me 1389 Errors on my Macbook Air. Should i purchase this tool full version or remove it. because on other discussion thread on apple website here i just noticed that everyone share their bad experience and recommended to uninstall. Advanced Mac Cleaner is fake virus utility. What to do now. Should i remove these 1389 errors or uninstall it

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 28, 2015 1:13 AM

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Posted on Feb 10, 2018 6:07 AM

I downloaded and installed malwarebytes. Had to run the scan, clear the quarantine, empty the trash and restart my MacBook Pro twice, but it finally got rid it. Here's the link: Malwarebytes | Free Cyber Security & Anti-Malware Software

128 replies

Feb 22, 2018 10:21 AM in response to jasminemonique

I would really scroll to the top and use my solution. But to answer your question, if you go on to finder, at the bottom you'll see a section that says devices. If you hit the icon that says the name of your hard drive (mine is macintosh hd) you will see applications, library, systems, and users. hit users and you will see your user name. there you go, hope it helped.

Mar 3, 2018 3:05 PM in response to Sea.Bass

this is exactly what i did. it apparently (in addition to what else it may have installed) installed two safari "extensions": advanced mac cleaner, and Booking.com. Neither will go to the trash, and as for the advanced mac cleaner, it periodically prompts me with so many hundred issues found, sign up, etc., including a female voice announcement re same. I called the 1-801 number for "support", comes up on my phone as in Midval, UT. The female, apparently in some sort of call center, answers "Premium Support" or "Premium Tech Support" or something like that. After I advised her i have the advance mac cleaner on my mac, she immediate offered to have a "technician" log on to my computer and fix that. When I asked to speak with her supervisor, she disconnected and was gone. so, how to fix this? help?

Mar 3, 2018 4:42 PM in response to Erigo Asparago

in an earlier post/reply (3march2018) I indicated that with Malwarebytes, on a scan it found two items and there was a 'confirm' button, which i clicked on. thought that it had actually totally removed them, but as i now look back, all three items (AMC, Booking, Unltrasearch) are in the Malwarebytes QUARANTEEN folder. Now, should I "CLEAR" these items?

Mar 3, 2018 4:57 PM in response to jrabey

thanks jrabey.

Only question remaining is whether I am to "clear" those 3 items from quarantine or not? Does that action kill them permanently? Are those files and related files STILL on my computer?

Oh yes: Does anyone know where AMC "headquarters" is? I'm getting some vibes that it may be in the UK, and affiliated with "Paddy" ??

Mar 3, 2018 7:13 PM in response to markh7482

Apparently Advanced Mac Cleaner got installed when I tried to update Adobe Flash Player, using the installer I got directly from the Adobe website. It's hard to imagine that Adobe consented to this--I hope not.

The only warning I got was an extra popup that told me that the Flash Player installer was trying to install a "helper" application. I foolishly allowed it too.

Not sure how to warn other people about this. Fortunately the advice I followed from the support Q&A seems to have got rid of the problem.

Mar 4, 2018 2:17 PM in response to tygb

Wow! None of this matches my Mac. When I look in the apps folder, there is not one for AMC. Instead of following these steps, which are impossible on my machine, I just used Malwarebytes-Mac - downloaded it and I was able to delete the AMC. Are you telling me there are still remnants on my computer? I can't find them when I search for things you listed there. To be truthful, I don't understand much of what you are saying, but I did search according to what instructions that matched my computer - didn't find a thing. It is so easy with Malwarebytes-Mac. What is wrong with doing it the easy way?

Mar 14, 2018 11:35 AM in response to Linc Davis

Link I am coming to you bc you have been so helpful in the past. This morning a fake Adobe update led me down a rabbit hole that installed that Advanced Mac Cleaner virus. I thought I had it removed (I even cleared cache per another Apple support tip) but now I keep getting surprise Safari tabs opening to tell me I need to clean my virus. This tread of yours from 2015 isn't working, but I was hoping you may have some new assist. Thanks in advance, Linc.

Mar 14, 2018 1:24 PM in response to VinceG3

Yes, Vince, I am usually very careful about 3rd parties. This one popped up on startup of my machine and I took it to be legit. Never again. I believe I have gotten rid of AMC--I did read forward for more current fixes. However--I am still plagued by Safari tabs that open spontaneously warning me to renew McAffee or to click for a virus scan, etc. Is there some way to rid myself of these? BTW I'm macOS 10.13.3 and Safari 11.0.3

Mar 14, 2018 1:23 PM in response to VinceG3

OK, Vince, so I read through these support community pages and the net result seems to be a lot of conflicting recommendations combined with convoluted threads that I can't follow. What would be most helpful would be for a high level person to give me the clearest Apple-approved advice to solve my problem. A scold about 3rd parties doesn't help me now.

Sep 28, 2015 10:15 AM in response to markh7482

You installed a fake "utility" called "Advanced Mac Cleaner." Like any software that purports to automatically "clean up" or "speed up" a Mac, it's a scam. To remove it, take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent. Back up all data before proceeding.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.pcv.hlpramc.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Trash. Log out or restart the computer.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

Move the following item to the Trash as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc

This time you may be prompted for your administrator login password. There's no need to log out after taking this step.

Step 3

Move this item to the Trash:

~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner

Step 4

Open the Applications folder and move an item named "Advanced Mac Cleaner" (if it's present) to the Trash. Empty the Trash.

Jan 15, 2016 3:47 PM in response to Linc Davis

The instructions that I posted in this discussion a few months ago are now outdated. Since people are still finding the discussion, I'll post an update.

First, never use any kind of "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" software on a Mac. That's how you cause problems, not how you solve them. Don't follow the instructions of the scam developer, either.

It's likely that you will have installed other malware along with "Advanced Mac Cleaner." If you still have problems after removing it, I strongly suggest that you start your own discussion to address those problems.

To remove "Advanced Mac Cleaner," please take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent in your case. Back up all data before proceeding.

Malware is always changing to get around the defenses against it. This procedure works as of now, as far as I know. It may not work in the future. Anyone finding this comment a few days or more after it was posted should look for a more recent discussion, or start a new one.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services Open

from the contextual menu.* A folder named "LaunchAgents" may open. If it does, look inside it for files with a name that begins like this:

com.pcv.

Move any such file to the Trash.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select

Go Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

The malware is now permanently inactivated, provided that you don't reinstall it. This step is optional.

Delete the following items, if they exist, as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc

~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner

There's no need to log out or restart after taking this step.

The problem may have started when you downloaded something, such as the application "FileZilla," from the "Sourceforge" website or some other Internet cesspit. Never visit that site again. All software should be downloaded only from the developer's website or from the Mac App Store, if applicable.

May 16, 2017 4:04 AM in response to markh7482

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.


------


[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.

User uploaded file

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How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

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