SurfMate Ads (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 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.