WebShoppers Adware (Mac)

What is WebShoppers?

WebShoppers is a dubious application identical to CoolShopper, HotShoppy, EasyShopper, and several others. By falsely claiming to save time and money, WebShoppers often trick users to install. Although this application may seem legitimate, it is classed as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.

Be aware that this application often infiltrates computers without users’ permission. Furthermore, it collects various user/system information and delivers intrusive online advertisements.

Following infiltration, WebShoppers records IP addresses, search queries entered into search engines, URLs visited, pages viewed, and other similar information relating to browsing activity. This collected data often contains personally identifiable details that are shared with third parties (who misuse private information to generate revenue).

Thus, data tracking can lead to serious privacy issues. Be aware that WebShoppers employs a 'virtual layer' to generate coupon, pop-up, banner, and other similar advertisements. None are derived from users' visited websites and often conceal underlying content, significantly diminishing the Internet browsing experience.

Clicking these ads is risky and might result in further computer infections, since some redirect to malicious websites. If WebShoppers has infiltrated your system without consent and you continually encounter third party advertisements, remove this application immediately.

Research shows that there are hundreds of adware-type applications sharing similarities with WebShoppers. All offer 'valuable features' to supposedly improve the Internet browsing experience, however, these apps are designed only to generate revenue for the developers - virtually none provide any real value for regular users.

Rather, applications such as WebShoppers deliver intrusive online advertisements (using the 'Pay Per Click' [PPC] advertising model), and continually gather various information (which is later sold to third parties).

How did WebShoppers install on my computer?

WebShoppers has an official download website and is also distributed using a deceptive software marketing method called 'bundling'.

Developers know that many users do not express enough caution when downloading and installing software and, thus, conceal bogus apps (including WebShoppers) within the 'Custom/Advanced' settings. By skipping this section, users expose their systems to risk of various infections and threaten their privacy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

There are two simple steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, never rush when downloading and installing software - select the 'Custom/Advanced' settings and analyze each step. Secondly, never accept offers to download/install third party applications and opt-out of those already included.

WebShoppers website frequently asked questions (FAQ):

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Quick menu:

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

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

WebShoppers adware removal:

Remove WebShoppers-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 browser hijacker-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for browser hijacker 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 browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker 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 browser hijacker 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 browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker 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 browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers

Remove Safari browser hijackers:

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.

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 labeled "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 Google Chrome browser hijackers:

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".

Change your homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL 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 a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".

• 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".

Change your homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL 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 "Accept the Risk and Continue".

In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

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

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