Removing Click Togo browser hijacker and redirects to togosearching.com

What is Click Togo?

After analyzing the Click Togo browser extension, our researchers have determined that it is a browser hijacker. This piece of software alters browser settings to promote the togosearching.com fake search engine, and it spies on users' browsing activity.

Click Togo browser hijacker overview

When Click Togo was installed onto our test machine, it modified the browser's settings. Hence, when new browser tabs/windows were opened and web searches performed via the URL bar - it caused a redirect to togosearching.com.

Fake search engines typically redirect to legitimate ones, as they cannot generate results. However, where their redirects lead to - can vary due to various factors (e.g., user geolocation, etc.).

We have noted togosearching.com redirecting straight to the Google search engine. However, we have also observed this illegitimate search engine causing a redirection chain consisting of my-search.com, trafficjunction.com, and concluding with Bing.

Furthermore, most browser hijackers can undo any changes users try to make to their browser or outright deny access to the browser settings. Therefore, a hijacked browser cannot be restored without removing the software affecting it.

What is more, Click Togo has data tracking abilities. Browser hijackers usually target the following information: visited URLs, viewed webpages, searched queries, personally identifiable details, financial/banking data, etc. The collected data is then monetized through sale to third-parties.

In summary, the presence of browser-hijacking software like Click Togo on systems - can result in severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	Click Togo
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab
Browser Extension(s)	Click Togo
Promoted URL	togosearching.com
Detection Names (togosearching.com)	Fortinet (Phishing), Forcepoint ThreatSeeker (Suspicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (togosearching.com)	104.21.36.179
Affected Browser Settings	Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine
Symptoms	Manipulated Internet browser settings (homepage, default Internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the 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 browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious 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.

Browser hijacker examples

Get Dark, Search-Power, SearchGamesOnline, Big Dark - are just a few examples of the browser hijackers we have analyzed. They tend to look legitimate and offer "handy" features (e.g., improved browsing experience, easy access to online content, etc.). However, these functions rarely work as promised, and in most cases - they are utterly nonoperational.

How did Click Togo install on my computer?

Our researchers obtained Click Togo from its "official" download webpage, which was discovered during a routine inspection of browser notification spam.

It is noteworthy that such pages can be accessed variously. Aside from spam notifications, they are can also be entered via mistyped URLs or redirects caused by websites using rogue advertising networks, intrusive adverts, or installed adware.

Browser hijackers are proliferated using the "bundling" technique (i.e., packing regular programs with various additions). Download from dubious channels (e.g., unofficial and freeware sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, etc.) and rushed installations - increase the risk of inadvertently allowing bundled content into the device.

Additionally, intrusive ads are used to proliferate browser-hijacking software. Once clicked on, some of these advertisements can execute scripts to make downloads/installations without user consent.

How to avoid installation of browser hijackers?

We strongly recommend researching software and only downloading from official/trustworthy sources. Another recommendation is approaching installation processes with care, e.g., reading terms, studying available options, using the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings, and opting-out of additional apps, tools, features, etc.

We also advise exercising caution when browsing - since illegal and malicious content usually looks legitimate. For example, intrusive adverts appear harmless yet redirect to highly questionable websites (e.g., gambling, adult-dating, pornography, etc.).

If you encounter such ads and/or redirects, inspect your device and immediately remove all suspicious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins. If your computer is already infected with Click Togo, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Websites promoting the Click Togo browser hijacker:

Appearance of togosearching.com redirecting (via my-search.com and trafficjunction.com) to the Bing search engine (GIF):

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 Click Togo?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Click Togo application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove Click Togo browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 3. Remove togosearching.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 4. Remove togosearching.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 5. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Click Togo 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, "Click Togo"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications (which cause browser redirects to the togosearching.com website), scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Click Togo browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

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 "Click Togo" 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, disable "Click Togo", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.togosearching.com) 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 "togosearching.com", 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 togosearching.com redirect, 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 plugins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Click Togo", 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 "Click Togo", remove hxxp://togosearching.com 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: "extensionControlled"
Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with togosearching.com redirect 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 togosearching.com redirect, 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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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the purpose of forcing users to visit togosearching.com website?

Cyber criminals' (i.e., browser hijacker and fake search engine developers') revenue directly depends on the count of togosearching.com visitors.

Is visiting togosearching.com a threat to my privacy?

Most likely, yes. Sites like togosearching.com are known to gather (and subsequently sell) visitors' data.

How did a browser hijacker infiltrate my computer?

Browser hijackers are primarily spread through "official" promotional pages, freeware and third-party download websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, intrusive ads, spam browser notifications, software "bundling", fake updates, and so on.

Will Combo Cleaner help me remove Click Togo browser hijacker?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of scanning systems and eliminating installed browser-hijacking applications. On the other hand, manual removal (unaided by security software) might not be a perfect solution in cases when multiple browser hijackers are present. Since when one browser hijacker is uninstalled - the others might re-install it. Furthermore, this software may deny access to removal-related settings or undo user-made changes. Therefore, it is paramount to eliminate browser hijackers thoroughly and all at once.

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