How to Remove Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live Pop-ups from Mac

George Herman
George Herman
IT Security Expert

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What is Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live

Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live is a misleading website, which uses scare tactics to make users download a bogus apps like Cleanup My Mac. The page will say that the system is infected with a virus, which can be removed with the bogus application we already mentioned. Do not trust this site! No website can determine if your system is infected with a virus. The reason you see Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live on your browser is most likely the presence of a potentially unwanted application (PUA) on your Mac, or you probably visited a shady site.

How it is distributed

PUAs are often distributed via freeware and fake update messages. The user may think they are seeing a legitimate update pop-up, which urges them to install unreliable software on their Mac. That’s why you should get your updates from official and licensed sources only. Most commonly, unwanted software is able to infiltrate your device when you are not paying close attention when installing software on your computer. Malicious applications are often disguised as ‘additional’ in the installer. That’s why we highly suggest choosing the Custom or Advanced option in the Setup Wizard, so you have full control over the process. This way, you’ll be able to see the full installation list, and opt out of any additional installations.

How it operates

When the Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live page is displayed, you’ll also see a pop-up window urging you to take immediate action. In most cases, the fake virus notification will say that the system is infected with a Trojan virus called e.tre456_worm_osx. The bogus website is known to also indicate that three viruses were detected by it. The ‘Scan Now‘ button will supposedly scan the entire system, but in reality, you’ll receive a fake scan result that aims to scare you even more. After that, you’ll be prompted to download and install an app like Advanced Mac Cleaner or Cleanup My Mac. Do not click the ‘Remove Viruses Now‘ button! It is programmed to download malicious software. Some researches report that the installation file will distribute more than one PUA. Whatever the case, you cannot trust any application advertised by Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live. The common symptoms, which indicate that your Mac has been infected by a parasite such as Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live include a large amount of intrusive ads and pop-ups, poor system performance, shady redirects, etc. If you don’t remove this nasty PUA as soon as possible, you may lose private information like IP addresses, GPS coordinates, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account credentials, browser history, etc. You even put your Mac at risk, since the parasite could expose the system to other dangerous threats.

Staying safe from Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live

Apart from having a reliable AV software installed on your Mac, there are other things you can do to ensure your device’s safety. We highly recommend you to:

  • Pay close attention when you install third-party software, especially torrent files, so you don’t install shady additional applications that you don’t want. In most cases, that’s how malicious parasites are able to infect your computer;
  • Read any Terms and Conditions you see, so you know exactly what you agree to. The last thing you want is to unknowingly give permission to a nasty virus to infiltrate your Mac;
  • Follow links that lead to trustworthy sites only;
  • It is best to visit only reliable and official websites. You never know what dangers might lurk behind an unfamiliar site;
  • No matter how attractive an ad is, if you are not familiar with the website it redirects to, it might be best to steer clear of it and not click;
  • Always check the sender’s email address before opening a message. If it states that it’s from an official company, compare the email with the one given in their official page. If there is no match, delete the message, since it most likely is fake and has malicious aims;
  • Don’t open email attachments from unknown senders. More often than not, such files carry infections that can seriously damage your computer.

How to manually remove Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live from Mac

If you’ve had the misfortune of getting your Mac infected with the Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live PUA, the instructions below can help you to remove it manually. Also, bear in mind that the infected files may have a different name than the one associated with this PUA.

Here’s what you need to do, in order to remove the parasite manually:

1. Go to Utilities. You can do that by using the ⇧+⌘+U key combination, or by going to Finder and choosing Utilities from the Go main menu at the top.

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it.

3. A list will be displayed. Find any processes that seem suspicious to you and use the ‘Force Quit‘ option to quit them completely.

4. Open Finder. Click on the Go button from the main menu at the top, and choose Applications. An alternative way is to use the ⇧+⌘+A key combination.

5. Look for any suspicious applications, especially ones with a name similar to Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live. If any are found, right-click on them and select the ‘Move to Trash‘ option.

6. Remove any related left-over files by going to Finder‘s search bar and typing the name of the app you want to remove. Make sure to modify the two drop down menus above to ‘System Files‘ and ‘Are Included‘, so that any hidden files are visible for you to remove. Once you find the files you want to remove, simply drag them to Trash.

7. All that’s left for you to do is remove any related extensions to Apple.com-mac-optimizing.live from your Mac browsers.

For Mozilla Firefox extensions:

  • Open the Firefox browser and from the ‘burger’ menu in the top right corner of the window select ‘Add-ons’.
  • Select any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and click ‘Remove’.

For Google Chrome extensions:

  • Open the Chrome browser and select Tools > Extensions from the menu (the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window).
  • Locate any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and remove them.

For Safari extensions:

  • Open the Safari browser. From the Safari menu choose Preferences. Select Extensions from the options at the top.
  • Find any extensions you think are related to the virus, select them and click ‘Uninstall’. A new window will show up asking for confirmation. Click Uninstall again, for the extension to get deleted permanently from your browser.

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