I keep getting notifications of viruses or malware on my iMac running OS X (10.11.5). Are these for real or are they scams? How do I get rid of them - the notifications is they are false or the viruses if they are for real?
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)
They are all Scams. Nothing can scan your Mac over the internet.
They could just be coming from the websites you are visiting.
It could also be related to Adware. Have you ever installed any programs from software download sites like CNet, Softpaedia, etc?
Scam.
Definitely a scam, I would download install and run Malearebytes (formerly known as Adware Medic) for Mac. It's a great program that is free and will clear any adware off if you have any. Could be just the websites you are clicking on, but if they pop up a lot then it's likely you have an adware program installed.
Just in case you might still be in doubt, that are scams
Please read Phony "tech support" / "ransomware" popups and web pages for a description of, and the solution to, this common scam.
Downloading and installing anything in response to such scams is inappropriate and unjustified.
Hello larrysunday,
These are definitely scams. However, I have recently discovered a new wrinkle in the scams. What you are describing sounds like a standard web scam and the pop-ups are in the web browser. But if you ever happen to fall for one of the many software scams, you could start getting OS X-style notifications in the top, right corner of your screen. These can also be scams. Plus, these alerts will continue even after you have uninstalled the scamware. There is NO user-accessible way to delete these notifications and they can continue - for years.
The moral of the story? Always have System Preferences > Users & Groups > General set to "Allow apps downloaded from" > "Mac App store and identified developers". Be very careful about downloading and installing scamware. Any software that has the word "clean" in the name, or advertises "cleaning" on its web site is a scam - yes - every single one. Many antivirus tools are just scams. The more often you see ads for the software on the internet, the more likely it is to be a scam. Scammers will use Big Data to blanket the internet (at least the one that you see) with ads for their scams. ALWAYS use an ad blocker like uBlock (https://www.ublock.org/). Again, you have to be careful, many ad-blockers are, alas, scams.
larrysunday
Always have System Preferences > Users & Groups > General set to "Allow apps downloaded from" > "Mac App store and identified developers"
Sage advice from etresoft, however meant to post—
System Preferences >Security & Privacy > General>Allow apps downloaded from: Mac App store and identified developers
TThanks for the correction!
Current Virus and Malware Notifications - True or False
