Do not trust the e.tre456_worm_Windows virus alert

"e.tre456_worm_Windows" removal instructions

What is "e.tre456_worm_Windows"?

Virtually identical to "e.tre456_worm_osx Trojan", "e.tre456_worm_Windows" is the name of a fake trojan virus that gets detected by a deceptive website. There are many scam websites that are designed to trick visitors into believing that their computers are infected with viruses, malware, and so on. Typically, the main goal of such pages is to advertise some shady software that supposed to remove those viruses. At the time of the research this particular site promoted MyCleanID. We advise against installing software that is downloaded from unofficial, deceptive pages. It is worth mentioning that most of the times people end up on such pages because of some potentially unwanted application (PUA) that is already installed on a browser and/or operating system.

Visitors are encouraged to remove the aforementioned (e.tre456_worm_Windows) virus as soon as possible. The message in a pop-up that gets displayed after clicking "OK" in the first one says that Windows operating system is outdated and corrupted. In order to avoid loss of system files visitors supposed to follow the provided instructions. As stated in the background page, the system is infected with three viruses: two of them are classified as malware and one as phishing/spyware. It is mentioned that these viruses put visitor's banking and personal information at risk and can cause loss of apps, photos, and other files. Visitors are encouraged to scan their systems by clicking the "Scan Now" button which performs a fake system scan and leads to a download page of the aforementioned MyCleanID program. However, this scam page might lead to download pages of other shady software as well. Either way, no software that is promoted through deceptive, unofficial pages should be trusted (downloaded and installed). Besides, this particular website is disguised as official Microsoft page, however, Microsoft company has nothing to do with this or any other scam website. We recommend to ignore and close this page. If it cannot be closed normally, then we recommend to end browser's process through Task Manager. It is worth mentioning that restoring the closed session will reopen this page. Therefore, it should not be restored.

As we mentioned in the introduction, quite often websites of this kind get opened by PUAs. Additionally, apps of this type usually are designed to serve advertisements and gather various data. They serve intrusive ads such as pop-ups, coupons, banners, surveys, and so on. If clicked, they cause redirects to questionable pages or execute scripts designed to download or even install PUAs, or even malware. Also, while installed, PUAs collect information such as IP addresses, search queries, URLs of visited websites, geolocations, and so on. Their developers share collected details with third parties (potentially cyber criminals) who misuse them to generate revenue. Gathered data might contain personal, sensitive information as well. These apps might lead to problems related to browsing safety, privacy, cause installations of malware or even identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	"e.tre456_worm_Windows" virus
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Detection Names (0fficial[.]online)	ESET (Suspicious), Kaspersky (Malware), Full List (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (0fficial[.]online)	51.159.16.122
Fake Claim	This page claims that visitors computer is infected with e.tre456_worm_Windows and other viruses.
Distributed Unwanted Apps	MyCleanID, this page could be used to promote other unwanted software too.
Symptoms	Fake error messages, fake system warnings, pop-up errors, hoax computer scan.
Distribution methods	Compromised websites, rogue online pop-up ads, potentially unwanted applications.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft, possible malware infections.
Removal	To eliminate e.tre456_worm_Windows virus our malware researchers recommend scanning your computer with Spyhunter. ▼ Download Spyhunter Free scanner checks if your computer is infected. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Spyhunter.

Typically, scammers use these pages like this one to trick people into downloading and installing questionable software. As a rule, they display fake notifications about detected viruses and encourage visitors to download programs that supposed to remove them. Here are some examples of other scam pages: "VIRAL ALARM OF MICROSOFT", "Windows is not activated" and "This computer is blocked". PUAs that are often responsible for redirects to such pages are also very similar: they open untrustworthy pages, gather various data and/or feed users with unwanted ads. Typically, such apps are useless and are designed only to generate revenue for their developers.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

Most of the times people download and/or install PUAs without intention to do so: by clicking deceptive ads that should not be trusted or when software developers distribute unwanted software using a "bundling" method. This method is used with a purpose to trick people into downloading and/or installing PUAs together with other, regular software that they actually want to download and/or install. Simply said, developers include PUAs in download or installation setups as additional offers and place information about it in their "Custom", "Advanced" settings. Many people download and install software without checking and changing such settings, by doing so they unknowingly allow for unwanted programs to be downloaded and/or installed too.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

We do not recommend to download (or install) software from untrustworthy websites, using third party software downloaders, installers, Peer-to-Peer networks like torrent clients, eMule, etc. That should be done using only official websites and direct download links. Also, it is important to opt-out offers to download or install unwanted software before completing download or installation procedure. Typically, those offers can be found in the aforementioned "Advanced, "Custom", and other similar settings. Furthermore, it is recommended to avoid clicking various intrusive ads, especially when visiting shady pages. These ads often redirect people to potentially malicious pages or cause downloads, installations of shady software. If there are any unknown, unwanted extensions, add-ons and plug-ins installed on a browser, then they should be uninstalled right away. The same applies to software of this kind that is installed on a computer (operating system). If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Spyhunter for Windows to automatically eliminate them.

Text presented in "e.tre456_worm_Windows" initial pop-up:

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

We have detected a trojan virus (e.tre456_worm_Windows) on your PC.

Press OK to begin the repair process.

Screenshot of the second pop-up displayed after clicking "OK":

Text in the second pop-up:

System has detected that your Windows is currently out of date and corrupted.

This causes automatic deletion of your system files.

Follow the instructions immediately to resolve this problem and make sure your system stays up to date.

Text in the background page:

Your system is infected with 3 viruses
Friday, November 15, 2019 2:52 PM
Your PC is infected with 3 viruses. Our security check found traces of 2 malware and  1 phishing/spyware. System damage: 28.1% - Immediate removal required!

The immediate removal of the viruses is required to prevent further system damage, loss of Apps, Photos or other files.
Traces of 1 phishing/spyware were found on your PC with Windows.

Personal and banking information is at risk.

To avoid more damage click on 'Scan Now' immediately. Our deep scan will provide help immediately!
3 minute and 45 seconds remaining before damage is permanent.

The appearance of "e.tre456_worm_Windows" pop-up (GIF):

Download page of the MyCleanID program:

MyCleanID installer:

MyCleanID program:

Instant automatic removal of e.tre456_worm_Windows virus: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced computer skills. Spyhunter is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of e.tre456_worm_Windows virus. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Spyhunter By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Free scanner checks if your computer is infected. To remove malware, you have to purchase the full version of Spyhunter.

Quick menu:

• What is "e.tre456_worm_Windows"?
• STEP 1. Uninstall deceptive applications using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove adware from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue extensions from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove potentially unwanted plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove rogue extensions from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Removal of potentially unwanted applications:

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

Windows XP users:

Click Start, choose Settings and click Control Panel. Locate and click Add or Remove Programs.

Windows 10 and Windows 8 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Mac OSX users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window, look for any suspicious/recently-installed applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted application, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Remove rogue extensions from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the "e.tre456_worm_windows" virus, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and remove them.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the "e.tre456_worm_windows" virus, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plugins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions", in the opened window remove all recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with "e.tre456_worm_windows" virus removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....

In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious add-ons from Microsoft Edge:

Click the three horizontal dots icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions, right click your mouse on these entries and click "Uninstall".

Optional method:

Click the three horizontal dots icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), and select Settings.

In the opened tab, click the "Choose what to clear" button.

Click Show more and select everything, and then click the "Clear" button.

• If this didn't help, please follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.

Removal assistance:
If you are experiencing problems while trying to remove "e.tre456_worm_windows" virus from your computer, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.

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