Search.hcrimereport.co Redirect

What is search.hcrimereport.co?

search.hcrimereport.co developers promote this site as a search engine that provides quick access to 'useful content' from various report providers. In fact, search.hcrimereport.co is promoted using the Crime Report browser hijacker that is categorized as potentially unwanted application (PUA).

Typically, users install browser hijackers such as Crime Report unintentionally. Furthermore, search.hcrimereport.co and Crime Report record information relating to users' browsing activity.

Crime Report can be installed on most popular browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer. As soon as it is installed, it adjusts browser settings such as the new tab URL, homepage, and search engine by assigning them to search.hcrimereport.co. Even if these do not seem major changes, they cannot be undone (at least not normally).

Users of hijacked browsers are forced to visit search.hcrimereport.co when the affected browser or a new tab is opened. Thus, changes made by Crime Report diminish the browsing experience. Once a search query is entered, search.hcrimereport.co redirects users to search.yahoo.com, thus making Crime Report and its associated website pointless.

Note that Crime Report and search.hcrimereport.co collect data relating to users' browsing activity including IP addresses, search queries, keystrokes, URLs of visited websites, geo-locations, and personal/sensitive information that developers share with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals).

These people misuse private data to generate revenue. In summary, using search.hcrimereport.co and Crime Report puts you at risk of various privacy and browsing safety issues. It might even lead to identity theft. Therefore, uninstall the Crime Report browser hijacker as soon as possible.

Threat Summary:

Name	Crime Report browser hijacker
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab
Symptoms	Manipulated Internet browser(s) settings (homepage, default Internet search engine, new tab settings). User's are forced to visit hijacker's website and search the Internet using their search engines.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers.
Damage	Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

There are many fake search engines that are promoted by browser-hijacking apps. Some examples of other similar fake search engines are search.hdopplerweatherradar.co, search.hmytvcenter.co, and search.hmyemailcenter.co.

All are promoted as 'useful' and offering features (quick access to useful websites, and so on), however, fake search engines and browser hijackers deliver none of the functionality promised. They are used only to generate revenue for their developers.

How did Crime Report install on my computer?

In some cases, apps such as Crime Report can be downloaded from their official websites, however, users are often tricked into downloading them when software developers use "bundling", a deceptive marketing method used to trick people into installing PUAs with other (regular) software.

Developers achieve this by hiding unwanted apps in "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings of the installation set-ups. Typically, information about bundled apps is not properly disclosed.

Therefore, users who skip installation steps (do not check available settings) often install their software together with unwanted apps. Furthermore, when clicked, intrusive ads are capable of executing scripts that download and install unwanted apps.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Download software using official and trustworthy websites (or other sources) only. Do not use third party downloaders/installers, since these are monetized by promoting various unwanted applications (or other software). Also, install software with care, and do not skip the installation steps without checking "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings.

Deselect any unwanted software (or other extras) and only then finish the installation. As you have probably noticed, the the internet is full of advertisements, but not all are legitimate. Some intrusive ads redirect users to untrustworthy/potentially malicious websites (gambling, adult dating, pornography, etc.).

If you encounter these ads/redirects, check your browser for any unwanted/dubious extensions, plug-ins, and add-ons and remove them immediately. Also remove unwanted programs from the list of installed programs on your system. If your computer is already infected with Crime Report, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Website promoting Crime Report browser hijacker:

Instant automatic 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 malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner 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. 7 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.hcrimereport.co?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Crime Report application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove search.hcrimereport.co redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Crime Report browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.hcrimereport.co homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove search.hcrimereport.co redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Crime Report browser hijacker removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "Crime Report"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the search.hcrimereport.co website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Crime Report browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://search.hcrimereport.co and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "Crime Report".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the crime report browser hijacker, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

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 "Crime Report" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, look for a "Crime Report" browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.search.hcrimereport.co) 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 "search.hcrimereport.co", and when located, click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the crime report browser hijacker, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Crime Report", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window, disable "Crime Report",  remove hxxp://search.hcrimereport.co 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 "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "search.hcrimereport.co"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with crime report browser hijacker removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the crime report browser hijacker, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

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