SurfMate Ads (Mac)

How to remove SurfMate from Mac?

What is SurfMate?

SurfMate is a deceptive application identical to SurfBuyer, MyShopBot, My ShopMate, and many others. This app claims to save time and money by providing coupons, providing notifications of special deals/discounts available on various e-shops, and enabling other similar functionality. These claims often trick users into believing that SurfMate is legitimate and useful, however, it is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware. SurfMate infiltrates systems without users' consent, delivers intrusive online advertisements, and tracks Internet browsing activity.

Following infiltration, SurfMate displays pop-up, banner, coupon, and other intrusive advertisements. To achieve this, developers use a 'virtual layer' - a tool that enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. Therefore, the ads often conceal underlying content of visited websites and can lead to other malicious websites. Even accidental clicks can result in high-risk adware or malware infections. Another downside is information tracking. SurfMate records IP addresses, search queries, URLs visited, pages viewed, and other similar information that might be personally identifiable and shared by developers with cooperating third parties (who generate revenue by misusing personal details). Therefore, the presence of an information-tracking app on your system might lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. We strongly recommend that you uninstall SurfMate adware immediately.

Research shows that adware-type applications (including SurfMate) are designed only to generate revenue for the developers. Claims to provide 'useful functionality' are merely attempts to give the impression of legitimacy. In fact, adware-type applications provide no significant value for regular users - they deliver intrusive online advertisements (via the "Pay Per Click" [PPC] advertising model) and collect various information (which is later sold to third parties).

How did SurfMate install on my computer?

SurfMate has an official download website, however, developers also distribute this application via a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" - stealth installation of PUPs with regular software. Developers hide apps such as SurfMate within the "Custom/Advanced" settings of the download/installation processes. Skipping this section exposes systems to risk of various infections.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To prevent system infiltration by PUPs, be cautious when downloading and installing software. Closely analyze each step within the "Custom/Advanced" settings and cancel all third party applications listed for download/installation.

Website promoting SurfMate:

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Quick menu:

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

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

SurfMate adware removal:

Remove SurfMate-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 surfmate 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 SurfMate homepage and default Internet search engine removal from Internet browsers:

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Remove ads by surfmate 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 surfmate 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 surfmate 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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