how do I remove Stags,bluekai.com pop up when using ebay

Safari – Popup takes over

Safari – Popup takes over (2)

Popup remover – Scam Zapper

If the pop-up reloads, force quit Safari (command - option/alt - esc) and reopen with the shift key held down. If that doesn't work, disconnect from the Internet, go to Safari/History and delete the website. Quit and reopen with the shift key held down. Then reconnect to the Internet.

Upgrading macOS to macOS High Sierra 10.13 may help.

8GB RAM installed will work.

macOS High Sierra technical specifications:

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP765?locale=en_US

For checking the compatibility of applications already installed on your Mac: https://roaringapps.com

Backup your Mac before installing the upgrade.

Note: Newer versions Apple applications may work a little different.

Here is what I did and it seems to have worked (for now)...

Go to Safari, and then Preferences, go to the Privacy tab

Under the Privacy tab will list Cookies and Other website data....go to the Details icon

search for "blue", you will see the bluekai.com site and you can remove this one....

hope this helps.

I also used Avast and it got rid of the stags.bluekai.com pop up that only happened when I went to eBay. It also found all the phishing emails that were in my trash. Looks like the right choice for all of us that were suddenly surprised by the annoying popups

AVAST sounds great but there is another thread on Apple Discussions forum with this same exact problem that suggested that downloading certain cleanup systems could affect your computer in other ways (AVAST was not mentioned). As I am not a computer expert has anybody who has now fixed the issue with AVAST experiencing anything affecting other aspects of the computer? I do want to try AVAST but wanted to check the subsequent computer performance for those who have had success. Thanks!!

Thanks - was that Outlook that was affected? Where does one find the "mail shield" and what is the function?

I appreciate your reply of course but would be helpful for others as well that had success to report any subsequent issues - thanks!

Since installing Avast (which got rid of stagsbluekai as well as 500 other minor infections..) I have had no problems. Avast comes with different features which you can opt out of if they bother you. It will indeed intercept email that contains phishing. In the past I have installed it and had to uninstall it later because it was preventing me from accessing certain sites. But it is easy to uninstall and as far as I can see it does not cause any problems that you couldn't easily fix.

I tried AVAST and it did nothing to stop the pop ups. I could not see an option in the settings that addressed this issue. All it did was scan the hard drive - - which in my case was clean. I also deleted the cookies/website data, but that did not help. It always pops up for me when I go to real estate websites; Zillow & Trulia. Just started last week.

That was my first option to get rid of stagsbluekai, because I heard that High Sierra is good for internet security and checks. It did remove stags and probably other things as well. Unfortunately, after installing it I no longer could use a VGA/Minidisplay connector to project images (VGA-hooked monitors were no longer detected). I went to Apple Assistance and after a bit of back and forth they admitted that VGA was not supported by High Sierra and considered too obsolete to be patched up. As a result I had to uninstall High Sierra and go back to my older OS. Good thing I had indeed made a backup copy of the entire disk.

I too had the Stags.bluekai issue after using Ebay for a recent purchase. I used the free AVAST virus security program as per Beth1catrin's advice and it appeared to work. 🙂🙂

NOTE: If you call their support #, they will try to "Up Sell" you on a annual subscription which I passed on. Apparently they have several versions of the free virus software (Windows vs. IOS vs. Chrome, etc) which is why it would not load on my IMAC, so I called the help #. So make sure you pick the correct package!!!

This is actually not a malware or adware issue. This problem is, unfortunately, normal with Mac OS X 10.9.

Recently, 10.9 systems began to have problems verifying certificates for certain sites. The bluekai.com sites, as well as the Oracle site (who owns bluekai.com), are among the affected sites.

I am not clear at this point what the cause of the problem is, but I have been able to confirm this behavior on a freshly-installed, clean 10.9 system.

Unfortunately, there are only two options available to you. One is to upgrade or downgrade your system. Mac OS X 10.10 and higher do not suffer from this problem, and strangely, for whatever reason, Mac OS X 10.8 is also not affected.

The other option is to stop using Safari and switch to Chrome or Firefox.

Note that Avast would only solve this problem because Avast, in essence, performs a man-in-the-middle attack on your system by installing their own root certificate as a means to decrypt and route all encrypted SSL (https) traffic through their software. This essentially short-circuits the ability of the browser to warn you of certificate issues, covering up the issue without fixing it. This also presents a serious security vulnerability, since A) Avast is intercepting all your encrypted network traffic, and B) Avast is preventing you from seeing normal warnings that would show up if, for example, a site's certificate had been revoked due to bad behavior.

Thank you very much @thomas_r for this very instructive post. I have been aware of the unpleasant sides of Avast for some time (and see them again now) but this time did not find another solution (installing High Sierra got rid of bluekai or rather the certificate warning for bluekai, but then some basic functionalities had stopped working and I had to de-install it). I suppose I could try 10.10. However, are you implying that bluekai is not at all a malware (in spite of numerous statements online to the contrary)?

franco de port wrote:

However, are you implying that bluekai is not at all a malware (in spite of numerous statements online to the contrary)?

That is correct, it is not. Beware of searches like "remove bluekai", as you will always come up with scam websites trying to peddle a "cure" for whatever it is you're searching for a way to remove, even in cases where there is nothing to remove and it's not malware, as in this case.

This issue with 'blue kai' and the safari pop ups started to affect me about 2 weeks ago. It only appeared when I'm on eBay or Gumtree. Symptoms exactly like everyone describes. I did a lot of research on the net - apple forums and other links also. I'm delighted to share the solution that has worked for me.

My Mac is the 10.9.5 - Maverick from 2013. From what I now understand, it seems that this is the version that gets affected. I've been using E Bay and Gumtree for years - but only picked up the problem very recently. (it seems likely the issue originates from some previous affiliation between eBay and Blue Kai).

I went to a local Apple retailer (within PC World). The guy advised me to contact Apple Support. Down load the App, he said.

I went to Apple Support - downloaded the Apple Support App on to my iPhone then made contact. So easy - they phoned me within minutes. We went in to a 'screen share' mode and it was apparent to the advisor that my Mac was out of date. The advise was to upgrade to High Sierra. (I've not previously been tempted to do this as I'm basically scared of doing anything to cause any problems - as you will now glean, I'm a bit of a Luddite!).

Also apparent was that I've never backed my Mac up - never used Time Machine and didn't have an external hard drive to use with it. The advice was to back up my Mac before upgrading - just in case. And in fairness this should be done regardless. So step one was, we ended the session and I went away and I bought an external Hard Drive from PC World ( a Seagate Back Up Plus Slim - 1 TB, for £49.95). Next day I plugged it in and via Time Machine on the Mac, it backed up everything. Took a while but very straight forward, even for me.

Having done that (and having it 'encrypted' - which was the longest part of the process - 24hrs), I got back to Apple Support by simply clicking on the email they had sent me with my case number. They phoned me within minutes.

It was a different Advisor this time - but no problem - I explained my issue and where I now was with it, and we went in to 'screen share' and he directed me through every step to upgrade to High Sierra. Having started the download, he left me to it (follow the instructions as they appear on screen), and after about an hour and half it was fully done.

And my problem was resolved!

Apparently in upgrading to this latest version, my Mac was no longer susceptable to the issue.

So, no need to install Avast, or any other such program (Malware Bytes is the only one Apple will recommend, if necessary).

So I have to say - start with Apple Support. This service is great - it's free, they phone you back, they take control and are in no rush. I was concerned my old Mac would not upgrade to High Sierra as I'd not previously updated to any of the previous versions. But I was assured it would be ok, and it was. So now I've got a 'new' Mac, am backing it up automatically and continually, and can now once again enjoy my time in eBay without the infuriating pop ups which had to be cancelled each time before you can go any further.

5 Star Service from Apple Support!

Hope this helps others.