Adware issues (Mackeeper)

A friend of mine just called me with an issue. I was able to do a screenshare. As it turns out, when she opens Chrome, it automatically redirects her to a different page, which simulates Google but it has a big ad for MacKeep at the bottom. (See screenshot). In the url field, nothing is there. (I had to crop that part of the image out.)

I reset Chrome but it still is happening. After doing some digging, it seems as another software is causing this but I’m not sure. I will have to go back to her machine and relook at other apps she may have.

I also ran Malwarebytes but that didn’t find anything.

Any suggestions on how fix this? I was thinking of uninstalling Chrome and then reinstalling.

Here is one page I found: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-mackeeper-popup-ads/

Thanks.

The article suggested is a good one – does your friend have Mackeeper as an app? If so and also has Clean My Mac, I’d use the uninstall feature on it to remove the (many) components Mackeeper has.

If not, I’d go through the steps in the article; it’s thorough even with lots of (simple) steps.

Is it happening on other browsers, or only Chrome? If only Chrome, I’d get rid of all the Chrome extensions and see if that fixes it.

Report back, please. This is one of those that someone will search for a year from now and would love to find what fixed it!

I did not see MacKeeper on her computer but hadn’t checked for CleanMyMac. When I get access to her computer again, I’ll look for that.

I’ll report back my findings. I could not figure out how the default page in Chrome was this page. I reset the new tab setting to no avail.

This is also only happening on Chrome. Safari appeared ok.

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So here’s a short update as it’s not completely fixed.

I ran through everything multiple articles sent me to no avail. I event deleted Chrome and reinstalled again but no luck.

As I dug through applications, I found the applications folder in the USER level and found something called MyMacUpdate and another called something like MyShopperCoupon. After a quick search, it was clear these were the culprits. Adware based stuff. Malwarebytes did not find them.

I was wary of just deleting them so my friend immediately contacted Apple with a full description of what we did and what we found. I’m awaiting to hear back on that discussion.

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What about running Malwarebytes?

You can install the free version then uninstall (the link to do that is in the help menu) after it runs. When it asks you to “Turn On Protection” (free 14 day trial) I would click “not now.” Then click “scan now.”

Tried that a couple of times. Malwarebytes never picked it up.

I use CleanMyMacX, and never have had any issues .