Search.pollicare.com Redirect (Mac)

What is search.pollicare.com?

Developers present search.pollicare.com as a "high-quality" Internet search engine designed to generate improved search results and, therefore, enhance the browsing experience. Judging on appearance alone, search.pollicare.com barely differs from legitimate search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and so on.

Therefore, many users believe that search.pollicare.com is also legitimate and useful. In fact, developers promote this site using deceptive download/installation set-ups (browser hijackers) that hijack browser options without permission. Furthermore, search.pollicare.com stealthily records user-system information.

Rogue set-ups hijack Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome, stealthily assigning the new tab URL, default search engine, and homepage options to search.pollicare.com. These changes may seem insignificant, however, users are unable to revert them.

As well as modifying settings, set-ups stealthily install a number of "helper objects" (third party applications and/or browser add-ons) to reassign browser options when attempts are made to change them.

Therefore, users are unable to return browsers to their previous states and are forced to visit search.pollicare.com when they open a new browser window or search via the URL bar. This significantly diminishes the web browsing experience. Another downside is information tracking.

Helper objects and search.pollicare.com continually record various information (such as IP addresses, URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, etc.) that might be personally identifiable. Developers sell this collected information to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) to generate revenue.

This threatens users' privacy. Furthermore, helper objects (also known as potentially unwanted programs [PUPs]) often stealthily misuse system resources to perform dubious tasks (such as mining cryptocurrency). Therefore, having PUPs installed often significantly diminishes computer performance. For these reasons, we strongly advise you to eliminate all PUPs immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	search.pollicare.com browser hijacker
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.

search.pollicare.com is identical to search.stuckopoe.com, search.pikatika.com, search.arcahol.com, search.tokyofalcon.com, and many other suspicious sites. In fact, all fake search engines are very similar. By falsely claiming to provide "useful features" (for example, improved search results, shortcuts to popular websites, weather forecasts, etc.), they attempt to trick users into believing that these sites are legitimate and useful.

In fact, very few provide any significant value - most are useless. Fake search engines are designed only to generate revenue for the developers. They cause unwanted redirects and record private data. In addition, some fake search engines deliver malvertising ads (banners, coupons, etc.) and generate false results.

These ads and search results might lead to malicious websites. Some run scripts that download and install PUPs/malware. For these reasons, using a fake search engine can lead to high-risk computer infections and serious privacy issues.

How did search.pollicare.com install on my computer?

Developers distribute search.pollicare.com using rogue downloaders and installers. This deceptive marketing method is called "bundling". Developers conceal all details of browser modifications within various sections (usually the "Custom/Advanced" settings) of the download/installation processes.

Rushing and skipping this section thus grants set-ups permission to modify browser options. In addition, users expose their systems to risk of various infections and compromise their privacy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

PUPs are proliferated using bundling and via the aforementioned malvertising advertisements. Therefore, be cautious when downloading/installing software and when browsing the Internet in general. Third party downloaders/installers often bundle additional software.

Therefore, we strongly advise you to avoid using these tools - download your software from official/trusted sources using a direct download URL. Furthermore, carefully analyze each download/installation step and opt-out of all additionally-included programs. If opting-out is not possible, cancel the entire process.

Criminals put a great deal of time and effort into designing malicious ads - most appear legitimate, however, they usually lead to suspicious websites (for example, gambling, surveys, adult dating [usually Russian websites], pornography, etc.) Therefore, if you have clicked ads leading to such websites, remove all suspicious applications/browser extensions. Do not click ads. The key to computer safety is caution.

Website promoting search.pollicare.com:

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▼ 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 search.pollicare.com?
• STEP 1. Remove search.pollicare.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove search.pollicare.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove search.pollicare.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.pollicare.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove browser redirects to search.pollicare.com using Combo Cleaner:

search.pollicare.com redirect removal:

Remove search.pollicare.com-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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