HotShoppy Adware (Mac)

What is HotShoppy?

HotShoppy is a dubious application identical to EasyShopper, LiveShoppers, and BestWeb Shoppers. By falsely claiming to improve the Internet shopping experience, HotShoppy often tricks users to install. Be aware, however, that HotShoppy is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.

There are three main reasons for these negative associations: stealth installation without users' consent, tracking of Internet browsing activity and display of intrusive online advertisements.

HotShoppy records Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, website URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, and other similar information that developers use to monitor browsing activity. This information is shared with cooperating parties. Furthermore, the information can include personally identifiable details that third parties misuse to generate revenue.

This behavior can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. In addition, HotShoppy employs a 'virtual layer' to generate pop-up, banner, coupon, and other similar advertisements. The virtual layer enables placement of third party graphical content on any site.

These advertisements often overlay website content, thereby significantly diminishing the Internet browsing experience. There is a high probability that they will lead to malicious websites - even accidental clicks can result in high-risk adware or malware infections. You are strongly advised to uninstall HotShoppy adware immediately. Adware-type applications have similar behavior.

All give fake promises to enable a number of 'valuable functions' to supposedly improve the Internet browsing experience, however, rather than providing any real value for users, applications such as HotShoppy collect personally identifiable information, display intrusive advertisements, and cause occasional unwanted browser redirects.

The purpose of adware is to generate revenue for the developers. These applications are useless for regular users.

How did HotShoppy install on my computer?

Although it has an official download website, developers often promote HotShoppy using a deceptive software marketing method called 'bundling' and, thus, users often install HotShoppy inadvertently without their consent. Developers conceal bundled PUPs within the 'Custom/Advanced' settings of the download/installation processes.

Unaware of this, users commonly rush and skip most steps, leading to inadvertent installation of bogus applications such as HotShoppy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

The key to computer safety is caution. Never rush the download or installation processes. Analyze each step, decline offers to download/install additional programs, and opt-out of those already included.

HotShoppy website frequently asked questions (FAQ):

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Quick menu:

• What is HotShoppy?
• STEP 1. Remove HotShoppy related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove HotShoppy ads from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove HotShoppy adware from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove HotShoppy ads from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

HotShoppy adware removal:

Remove HotShoppy-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers

Remove Safari browser hijackers:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

Change your homepage:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.

Change your default search engine:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

Change your homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".

In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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