uninstall safari (acting up), because of "download adobe flash player" virus scam?

Question

uninstall safari (acting up), because of "download adobe flash player" virus scam?

I received a notification while I was browsing the internet that I needed to update my Adobe Flash player. I did, and now my computer has a virus. I later learned that Adobe only makes this update available from their web site.... A pop up window recommends to call a phone number to reach people who supposedly represent Apple or "MacKeeper" software to solve the problem. It seems to all be part of a scam. Safari is acting up and I'd like to get rid of the Safari browser but computer won't let me. Also I'm writing because I've heard it can be bad to do this because Safari is tied in to system software. Not sure what to do. Any suggestions appreciated.

Suzy

iMac

Posted on Jun 12, 2016 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

MoonJ.

Community Specialist

Jun 13, 2016 9:11 AM in response to Susan Mclaughlin2

Hi Susan,

Thanks for trusting the Apple Support Communities to help you clear up these popups. I'm happy to provide some resources to help you along.

Since Safari comes with OS X, it is not something I'd recommend trying to remove from your computer. Instead, we've got some steps you can take to resolve these issues and get back to using Safari the way you're used to it!

We have some steps outlined here for removing Adware from Safari:

Stop pop-up ads in Safari

Note that at the bottom, it suggests ensuring that your computer is up to date with the latest version of OS X El Capitan. You can see more about how to get this update, and whether your computer is eligible for it here:

Upgrade to OS X El Capitan

If after going through both of these, you are still having issues with adware, I'd check out using software to scan for and remove any leftover adware, like MalwareBytes or other trusted removal applications.

After that, you should be back to browsing the web safely. Cheers!

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Answer 2

WZZZ

Level 6

13,238 points

Jun 14, 2016 5:56 AM in response to Susan Mclaughlin2

The steps you have been given above do not go far enough, and may leave a dangerous infection in place, which may steal your sensitive data, passwords, contacts, banking, credit card, etc.

The safest thing to do at this point might be to erase the hard drive completely, reinstall the system and any apps from scratch, and then restore your documents (and only documents, no settings files, applications or other such things!) from a backup. That is the only way that you can be 100% sure that there's nothing installed that is still giving these scammers access to your data.

(Courtesy thomas_r.)

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Answer 3

WZZZ

Level 6

13,238 points

Jun 14, 2016 8:58 PM in response to WZZZ

Hi Susan,

First, can you say why you think you have a virus? What behavior are you now noticing? Upon doing further research, the most likely consequence of having installed a fake Flash Player update would be adware, that is, ads appearing usually as pop-ups, or unwanted search applications.

What I was thinking when I wrote the reply above is that there is the rather small chance that the fake Flash might have the ability to take control of your computer, compromising your sensitive data.

There is a Malwarebytes for Mac version for Lion, which you should install and run. Malwarebytes can detect adware, some malware and some Potentially Unwanted Applications.

https://data-cdn.mbamupdates.com/web/MBAM-Mac-1.0.2.8.dmg

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