Combo Cleaner safe for Mac?

I don't know who you were talking to, but you've gotten a lot of really bad advice .

They claimed Malwarebytes can not remove adware.

That's what it's main function has always been. It was called Adware Medic before the MalwareBytes folks hired Thomas (the person who wrote and still maintains the app) and changed its name to MalwareBytes for Mac.

That any Apple tech support person would say any such thing suggests you were talking to a first day rookie. Many of Apple's phone reps suggest MalwareBytes to callers. They use it at the Apple Stores.

just to let you know that mackeeper is not a malware

This is a technically correct answer, but only by the slimmest of margins. Were you to install this pure garbage on a brand new Mac, it will claim to have found numerous serious errors that need to be fixed. But only after you pay for it first, of course.

it is a software that basically advertise full version of apps or other features

That part of the response is completely wrong. MacKeeper does not exist to simply advertise other products. It is the product. And it's complete junk.

From what you’ve described, at some point, you were convinced to install garbage software. Or, you used an aggregate download site such as downloads.com or softonic.com. These sites do indeed offer all kinds of legal downloads to get free and shareware software from, or demos of commercial software. Problem is, many of those downloads also install adware. ChumSearch is currently one of the worst, as it’s difficult to remove.

You don’t need any type of AV software on a Mac. There are no viruses (software that installs with no help needed from the user). It’s all Trojans, which is software you have to download and install. No AV software can stop you from doing that.

Literally, every single piece of so-called anti this or that software in the App Store is 100% useless (as is all AV software not found there). The ones from the App Store are even more useless since to be included there for sale, such apps are severly restricted to what they can access on the drive. The only places they’re allowed to touch is within their own application package, and your user account.

The only exception to the above is MalwareBytes for Mac. It is not AV software. Its main purpose is to clean up after the fact. It does only two things in real time. One, it checks back to their site to see if there are any updates to apply. And two, it watches for ransomware. If such software attempts to encrypt data, MBAM will do it’s best to shut the app down as quickly as possible.

You mean ChumSearch I think. I hadn't heard of Combo Cleaner until now. The briefest of scans of the reviews in the App Store suggest it is no better than the stuff you wisely wanted to remove. Had you asked here first I would have recommended Malwarebytes for Mac—Mac Antivirus Replacement | Malwarebytes. Perhaps you can cancel your payment for the subscription to Combo Cleaner. Hmm, why was that subscription not run through the App store too? In normal circumstances it would have been another secure payment to Apple, giving nothing for your credit card company to flag up.

tt2

Third party apps that claim to clean, protect,boost performance etc. are not needed and should not be installed. You can use Malware Bytes and Etrecheck to determine what may be running on your computer with the option of removing adware, malware.

If I've read things correctly you're saying the Combo Cleaner has actually resolved your issues, so I guess the remaining question is should you be concerned that you've given this third party company, based in a different country, access to your card details. Ask the financial institution that warned you. Perhaps they can issue a new card in a painless fashion to eliminate any potential risk.

tt2

I am quite suspicious of any "Apple Tech" you may have chatted with, that would claim Malware Bytes would not remove Adware. Did you perhaps phone these tech support people based on a popup message? Or a phone number found from an Internet search?

Malwarebytes identifies MacKeeper as a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) - NOT adware or malware

It does not remove ALL of MK's components

MWB4M is considered the gold standard - written by a long-time member here before the MWB company bought his program and made him Director of Mac products

This has been suggested several times and seems to have gone unchallenged as a thorough MK killer process

Read it ALL first - then go back and do the steps

How to Remove MacKeeper

https://www.lifewire.com/remove-mackeeper-4150011

See what EtreCheck has to say.

tt2