How to spot scams like "McAfee - Your iPhone is infected with 5 viruses!"

What kind of scam is "McAfee - Your iPhone is infected with 5 viruses!"?

It is a scam that uses a scare tactic to trick visitors into purchasing a McAfee Total Protection subscription. The McAfee company does not use websites like this one to promote its products. Thus, this site must be ignored. Our team has discovered this scam page while inspecting pages that use rogue advertising networks.

More about the "McAfee - Your iPhone is infected with 5 viruses!" scam

The page claims that it has detected a Trojan on a visitor's iPhone, which will most likely collect banking details and login credentials. It also claims that a device is infected with five viruses (it happened via unlicensed/pirated content). The page encourages a visitor to renew the McAfee Total Security and claims that up to 70% discount is available.

Clicking the "Renew Sbscription" or a similar button on pages like this one usually opens a legitimate McAfee website with an affiliate ID. At the time of the research, the link on this page was not working. As a rule, pages of this type are used to collect illegitimate commissions.

Threat Summary:

Name	McAfee - Your iPhone is infected with 5 viruses! scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Mac malware, Mac virus
Fake Claim	iPhone is infected with five viruses and a Trojan
Related Domain	flunk[.]site, hewtubi[.]live
Detection Names (flunk[.]site)	N/A (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	159.223.120.143
Symptoms	Your device becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, notifications displayed by shady pages, adware, pages that use rogue advertising networks.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious 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.

Similar scams in general

Typically, websites running similar scams display deceptive content to trick visitors into purchasing software (or performing other actions). Most of them are disguised as legitimate sites (e.g., they display logos of real companies). It is very uncommon for such pages to be opened intentionally.

Examples of similar scams are "Hacker Is Tracking You!", "Your iPhone Was Hacked", and "Malware Detected! Iphone Need To Be Repaired".

How did I open a scam website?

Websites that display pop-up scams are promoted via other untrustworthy pages (e.g., illegal movie streaming pages, torrent sites), deceptive advertisements, browser notifications, etc. In some cases, they get opened by installed adware or other questionable software or links promoted using search engine poisoning techniques.

How to avoid visiting scam websites?

Do not click ads displayed by questionable pages or allow those sites to show notifications. Ignore shady websites claiming that you have to click the "Allow" button to prove that you are not a robot, play a video, download some file, etc. Download applications from official websites and platforms.

It is highly advisable not to use shady websites, P2P networks, third-party downloaders, and similar sources. Deselect unwanted apps before finishing downloads and installations (it applies to software bundled with other apps). If your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate all threats.

Text in this scam page:

McAfe | SiteAdvisor

Your iPhone is infected with 5 viruses!

- Scan results: TROJAN Zeus2022, spyware.
- Virus nature: unlicensed content/pirated content.

TROJAN found on this iPhone will most likely collect banking details and login credentials.
Spyware will attempt to collect login credentials and personal data for blackmail.

Discount (23.05.2022):
UP TO 70% OFF

McAfee Total Security
20.9.139 (10 DEVICES)

Serial Number

4RJW - TC5M - W7RK - PED1

Renew Sbscription

Active subscription is required to remove viruses and restore iPhone protection.

To enable pop-up blocking, fraudulent website warnings, and remove web browsing data in mobile Apple devices, follow these steps:

First, go to "Settings", and then scroll down to find and tap "Safari".

Check if the "Block Pop-ups" and "Fraudulent Website Warning" toggles are enabled. If not, enable them immediately. Then, scroll down and tap "Advanced".

Tap "Website Data" and then "Remove All Website Data".

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 "McAfee - Your iPhone is infected with 5 viruses!"?
• STEP 1. Remove unwanted apps and related files, and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove rogue extensions from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue add-ons from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove potentially unwanted plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox.

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

Removal of unwanted applications:

Remove 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is a pop-up scam?

A pop-up scam is a fraudulent message (e.g., fake system notification, error message, virus warning) designed to trick page visitors into performing certain actions. Typically, pages running pop-up scams use scare tactics.

What is the purpose of pop-up scams?

They are used for different purposes. The most common ones are to extract sensitive information, distribute questionable (or even malicious) applications, or collect illegitimate commissions.

Why do I encounter fake pop-ups?

Pop-up scams are delivered by websites that get opened by present malicious applications, while visiting pages that use questionable advertising networks, or via notifications displayed by shady pages. In all cases, these pages are not visited on purpose.

Will Combo Cleaner protect me from pop-up scams?

Combo Cleaner can scan every website and detect an untrustworthy ones. It can detect pages running pop-up scams too. Thus, this application will warn you when a shady page is opened and restrict access to that page.

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