How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus

This worked--so far Ad Mac Clner has not returned: Download OnyX (It is a free and great Mac maintenance app) from the internet. Open. In "Files" go to "Erase" heading and erase w/1 pass. I also ran the "Maintenance" program at the front of the whole app. Don't know which of the two steps zapped the bad guy. So far, AMC has not shown back up. I'll revisit here if it does and report.

I'm always very careful and do not download anything from any page. I get Adobe outdated click here to update? Nope not going to happen. I will go directly to Adobe and check for updates. Other then that I go to Apple App store for updates. I also clear out any unwanted cookies at least 4 times a day (I have questions on this as well). Last week on some site I had my Mac locked up with that Mac Adv Cleaner. No menu, no dock and force quit not working. Shut the wifi modem off and shutdown. Started up cleaned the cookies (unwanted) and found MACleaner in the app folder. Deleted, modem back on everything working fine again. A few times (at least once a day) MACleaner window pops up? Can't figure what site I'm on that keeps putting it back in the folder? Just kept deleting it. Last night before shutdown I checked to make sure it wasn't in the App folder, it wasn't. This morning at startup, first thing that pops up GMCleaner window and it's back in the App folder? Apple should have SOMETHING to block unwanted downloads. It's going directly to the App folder not the download folder. I do have the ASK before downloading on.

Some thing happened to me. One day when I was cleaning up my Mac anyway, I decided to spend some time getting rid of this. After looking into several things, including things found on this site

and on the Mac site. I finally used Malwarebytes-Mac.3.11. I did some research to make sure that wasn't infected too, and finally downloaded the free 15 day trial. I was delighted when it worked! It also found a couple of other things that I didn't know were on there and corralled them and they are gone! I am so happy!

Thanks to you and Seventy one for level headed advice.

Even after a few hours trying to wipe out Advanced Mac Cleaner using step by step instructions found in this thread and others, I too was reluctant to attempt to delete a malicious free download with another free download. But you guys gave me confidence in downloading and trying Malwarebytes, which seems to have worked perfectly.

Thanks again.

Thanks so much. I had to go into each folder and send each of these files to the Trash individually. Once that was done, I restarted my MacBook and now its GONE!!! Yay! Thanks for the Post! You saved me and Probably lots of others!

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.

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?

The only thing that worked for me was

Malwarebytes-Mac-3.1.1.505.pkg

I looked into it quite throughly before downloading it- articles in Mac Magazine, etc.

It took away the AMC and several other things I didn't know I had.

I got the 15 day free trial.

Don't ever give AMC any information.

now, 2018, this is apparently Malwarebytes. i let it get installed on my mac, and it immediately found the 'advanced mac cleaner" and quarentined it and asked for a restart. did so, and was reminded that the downloaded program is a trial for 30 days. I clicked the 'scan' button on the program and it found the other two malware that had been loaded along with advance mac cleaner: booking, and advance search (or something like that). It displayed those finds and i clicked on the 'confirm' button. it then apparently deleted those two from my mac, as opposed to guaranteening them. I just went into my mach apps screen, and indeed the two icons that i couldn't trash, Booking, and Advanced Mac Cleaner, are now gone (the icons). Now, on the same apps screen is the Malwarebytes app icon. went to the Mac Apps store and entered a search for Malwarebytes.....NOTHING! So, now, while I'm happy that the Malwarebytes program captured the three malware i inherited (by clicking on the safari/google or whatever screen that listed a need to upgrade adobe flash (or whatever) and I now wonder: did the malware load more or less provide a solution path to Malwarebytes? maybe paranoia, but can that be? malware facilitates sales? again, why isn't/wasn't Malwarebytes in the Mac app store? Did i just step into a pile of poopies, or was this a simple good fix with Malwarebytes? Thoughts????? help......

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?

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" ??

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.

Method to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner App .

Enter in System library .

Click on finder > Take the cursor on top menu bar > Go > computer > Macintosh HD

Search the app in following folder .

( a ) Applications - Advanced Mac cleaner

Enter in User library , click on finder > Go > hold option key > click on library .

( a ) Folder Advanced Mac cleaner - click on it , the followings .plist are found .

msets.plist

rlist.plist

( b) In Application Support folder of Mac , there is a subfolder Advanced Mac cleaner

params.plist

Settings.plist

( c) Folder amc

amcuninstall

com.pcv.amcuuninstall.plist

com.pcv.hlpramcn.plist

helperamc

Inf.Adit

( d ) Folder Caches of Mac these are two remnants of the app .

com.Pcv.hlpramc

com.pcv.hlpramc

( e ) Cookies folder of Mac

com.pcv.hlpramc.binarycookies

com.pcv.rlistupdater.binarycookies

com.techyutils.cleaner.binarycookies

( f ) Folder hlpramc

Web settings.plist

( g ) Folder Launch Agents of Mac

com.pcv.hlpramcn.plist

( h ) Folder logs of Mac there are two log files .

helperamc.log

Advanced Mac Cleaner.log

( I ) Preferences folder of Mac

com.pcvhlpramc.plist

com.techyutils.cleaner.plist

( j ) Click on download folder , right click on the advancer cleaner file and delete .

amc_amc apstm.pkg

( k) Users and groups - open the pad lock by entering admin password .

Click on Login items - Advanced Mac Cleaner select the box , the app will be highlighted and click on subtract sign .

These are the files of Advanced Mac cleaner found in system library and user library folders , the individual advanced Mac cleaner folder and .plists found in subfolders are to be deleted .

Open finder > in applications folder right click on Advanced Cleaner app a prompt appears .

Advanced Mac Cleaner helper requires permission to complete the uninstallation .

Please provide the admin password to the next screen continue .

( a ) cancel

( b ) ok

Click on ok .

Again a prompt will appear enter user password .

You have to enter it correctly the app is removed permanently with its remnants also .

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?

These are the latest folders and remnants of Advanced Mac cleaner , in your Mac if it was downloaded previously the names could be different , I downloaded this app in my Mac and exactly same folders and remnants were seen in the locations of system library and user library .

Also Malware bytes Anti - malware was used by me and to be honest it removed the files of app.

You can delete the app in both ways manually or using malware bytes and it worked .