OptiBuy Adware (Mac)

What is OptiBuy?

OptiBuy is a deceptive application that supposedly saves time and money by providing coupons and notifications of special deals/discounts available on various online shops. On initial inspection, OptiBuy may seem legitimate and useful, however, it is categorized as adware and a potentially unwanted program (PUP).

There are three main reasons for these negative associations: 1) stealth installation without consent; 2) display of intrusive online advertisements, and; 3) tracking of users' Internet browsing activity.

Following infiltration, OptiBuy generates pop-up, coupon, banner, and other similar ads. To achieve this, OptiBuy employs a "virtual layer" - a tool that enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. Therefore, displayed ads often conceal underlying content of visited websites, thereby significantly diminishing the Internet browsing experience.

In addition, some lead to malicious websites and clicking them risks further adware or malware infections. Furthermore, OptiBuy continually records IP addresses, URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, and other information that might contain personal details.

OptiBuy's developers share this collected data with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse personal details to generate revenue. The presence of a data-tracking app can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. For these reasons, you are strongly advised to uninstall OptiBuy adware immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by OptiBuy
Threat Type	Mac malware, Mac virus
Symptoms	Your Mac became slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you get redirected to shady websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

OptiBuy is identical to Couponizer, HotShoppy, SurfBuyer, and many other potentially unwanted programs. Note that all of these applications offer identical functionality, however, they are useless for regular users. OptiBuy, and these other adware infections, are designed only to generate revenue for the developers.

They deliver intrusive online advertisements and continually record various user-system information. These applications are useless for regular users.

How did OptiBuy install on my computer?

OptiBuy is free for anyone to download on its official website, however, this app is also promoted using a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". Therefore, many users install OptiBuy inadvertently, without their consent. Bundling is stealth installation of third party applications with regular software/apps.

Developers know that users often rush the download/installation processes and skip steps. Therefore, bundled applications are hidden within the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings of the download or installation processes. By skipping these sections, users expose their systems to risk of various infections.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

There are two simple steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, never rush when downloading and installing software. Select the "Custom/Advanced" settings and carefully analyze each step. Secondly, decline offers to download/install additional applications and opt-out of those already included.

Deceptive free software installer promoting installation of OptiBuy adware:

OptiBuy adware generating intrusive online ads (most commonly marked as "Powered by OptiBuy"):

OptiBuy adware "Terms and Conditions":

Instant automatic Mac malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

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

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

OptiBuy adware removal:

Remove OptiBuy-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 adware-related files and folders

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

Check for adware 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 adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware 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 adware 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 adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware 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 adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove malicious extensions from Internet browsers

Remove malicious Safari extensions:

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.

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

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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".

• 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".

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

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