MyShopMate Adware (Mac)

What is My ShopMate?

My ShopMate is a deceptive application identical to My WebEnhancer, ShoppyTool, SmartShoppy, and many other applications. By falsely claiming to save time and money whilst shopping online, My ShopMate often tricks users into believing that this application is legitimate and useful.

In fact, My ShopMate usually infiltrates systems without users’ permission. Furthermore, this application delivers various intrusive online advertisements and collects information relating to Internet browsing activity. For these reasons, My ShopMate is categorized as adware and a potentially unwanted program (PUP).

My ShopMate 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. The displayed ads often conceal underlying content of visited websites, thereby significantly diminishing the Internet browsing experience.

Research also shows that ads displayed by adware-type applications can redirect to malicious websites containing infectious content. Clicking them risks further adware or malware infections.

In addition, My ShopMate tracks Internet browsing activity by gathering IP addresses, websites visited, search queries, pages viewed, and other similar browsing-related data that might be personally identifiable. The data is shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who commonly misuse private data to generate revenue.

Thus, the presence of an information-tracking app on your system can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. We strongly recommend that you uninstall My ShopMate adware immediately.

Developers of My ShopMate have released a number of identical applications under different names. All offer time and money saving functionality, however, they are useless for regular users. My ShopMate, and the above apps, provide none of the features promised.

They simply generate revenue for the developers. Claims to enhance the web browsing experience are attempts to trick users to install. These applications generate intrusive online advertisements and collect personally identifiable information.

How did My ShopMate install on my computer?

My ShopMate has an official download website, however, it is also distributed using a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" - stealth installation of potentially unwanted programs with regular software/apps. Research shows that many users do not pay enough attention during the download/installation processes.

Aware of this, developers hide bundled programs within the "Custom/Advanced" settings of these procedures. Rushing and skipping this section, exposes systems to risk of various infections and compromises users' privacy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To prevent installation of potentially unwanted programs, be cautious when downloading and installing software. Select the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings, closely analyze each step, opt-out additionally-included programs, and decline offers to download/install them. The key to computer safety is caution.

Deceptive application installer promoting My ShopMate adware:

My ShopMate website frequently asked questions (FAQ):

My ShopMate adware generating intrusive online ads (marked as "Powered by MyShopMate" or "Ad by MyShopMate"):

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Quick menu:

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

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

My ShopMate adware removal:

Remove My ShopMate-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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