HotShoppy Adware (Mac)

How to remove HotShoppy from Mac?

What is HotShoppy?

HotShoppy is a dubious application identical to EasyShopper, LiveShoppers, and BestWeb Shoppers. By falsely claiming to improve the Internet shopping experience, HotShoppy often tricks users to install. Be aware, however, that HotShoppy is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware. There are three main reasons for these negative associations: stealth installation without users' consent, tracking of Internet browsing activity and display of intrusive online advertisements.

HotShoppy records Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, website URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, and other similar information that developers use to monitor browsing activity. This information is shared with cooperating parties. Furthermore, the information can include personally identifiable details that third parties misuse to generate revenue. This behavior can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. In addition, HotShoppy employs a 'virtual layer' to generate pop-up, banner, coupon, and other similar advertisements. The virtual layer enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. These advertisements often overlay website content, thereby significantly diminishing the Internet browsing experience. There is a high probability that they will lead to malicious websites - even accidental clicks can result in high-risk adware or malware infections. You are strongly advised to uninstall HotShoppy adware immediately.

Adware-type applications have similar behavior. All give fake promises to enable a number of 'valuable functions' to supposedly improve the Internet browsing experience, however, rather than providing any real value for users, applications such as HotShoppy collect personally identifiable information, display intrusive advertisements, and cause occasional unwanted browser redirects. The purpose of adware is to generate revenue for the developers. These applications are useless for regular users.

How did HotShoppy install on my computer?

Although it has an official download website, developers often promote HotShoppy using a deceptive software marketing method called 'bundling' and, thus, users often install HotShoppy inadvertently without their consent. Developers conceal bundled PUPs within the 'Custom/Advanced' settings of the download/installation processes. Unaware of this, users commonly rush and skip most steps, leading to inadvertent installation of bogus applications such as HotShoppy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

The key to computer safety is caution. Never rush the download or installation processes. Analyze each step, decline offers to download/install additional programs, and opt-out of those already included.

HotShoppy website frequently asked questions (FAQ):

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Quick menu:

• What is HotShoppy?
• STEP 1. Remove HotShoppy related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove HotShoppy ads from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove HotShoppy adware from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove HotShoppy ads from Mozilla Firefox.

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

HotShoppy adware removal:

Remove HotShoppy-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 ads by hotshoppy 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 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 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 in the correct order you Mac should be clean of infections. To be sure 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 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 it's virus definition database and click "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.

Ads by HotShoppy homepage and default Internet search engine removal from Internet browsers:

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Remove ads by hotshoppy related Safari extensions:

Open 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 normal 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 labelled "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 malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Remove ads by hotshoppy related Mozilla Firefox add-ons:

Open your Mozilla Firefox browser. At the top right corner of the screen, click the "Open Menu" (three horizontal lines) button. From the opened menu, choose "Add-ons".

Choose the "Extensions" tab and look for any recently-installed suspicious add-ons. When located, click the "Remove" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Mozilla Firefox browser - none are crucial for normal browser operation.

Change your homepage:

To change your homepage, click the "Open Menu" (three horizontal lines) button and choose "Preferences" from the drop-down menu. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage Page.

Change default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button.

In the "Search:" field, type the name of the browser hijacker. Right click on each of the found preferences and click "Reset" from the drop-down menu.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Remove ads by hotshoppy related Google Chrome add-ons:

Open Google Chrome and click the "Chrome menu" (three horizontal lines) button located in the top-right corner of the browser window. From the drop-down menu, choose "More Tools" and select "Extensions".

In the "Extensions" window, look for any recently-installed suspicious add-ons. When located, click the "Trash" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Google Chrome browser - none are crucial for normal browser operation.

Change your homepage:

Click the "Chrome menu" (three horizontal lines) button and choose "Settings". In the "On Startup" section, click the "Set pages" link near to the "Open a specific page or set of pages" option. Remove the URL of the browser hijacker (for example trovi.com) and enter your preferred URL (for example, google.com).

Change default search engine:

Click the "Chrome menu" (three horizontal lines) button and choose "Settings". In the "Search" section, click the "Manage search engines..." button. In the opened window, remove the unwanted Internet search engine by clicking the "X" button next to it. Select your preferred Internet search engine from the list and click the "Make default" button next to it.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

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