How to remove applications that promote pages like spaceshellvpn.com?

What is spaceshellvpn[.]com?

Websites like spaceshellvpn[.]com cannot be trusted because they are designed to trick visitors into installing potentially unwanted applications (PUAs). Also because such pages are promoted via other shady pages, deceptive advertisements and PUAs, in other words, because users do not visit such pages intentionally.

Like most similar pages, spaceshellvpn[.]com is disguised as an official Apple page. Although, the actual Apple company (or any of its official pages) has nothing to do neither with this or other deceptive pages.

This website claims that device (iPhone) has been compromised. More precisely, it says that a device is infected with some Trojan, and if that Trojan will not be removed, then user's personal accounts, photos and payment data will become available to third parties.

Like most similar websites, it offers a visitor to download a certain application via the provided website link and encourages to do that as soon as possible (or even within a certain amount of time). In one way or another, apps should never be downloaded via websites like spaceshellvpn[.]com.

If such pages get opened by a browser often, ten it is likely that it already has some PUA installed on it. It is worthwhile to mention that it is common for PUAs to designed not only to promote shady but also to generate advertisements and/or collect various data.

In such cases PUAs generate coupons, banners, surveys, pop-ups, or ads of other types and/or collect data like IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited pages, geolocations and/or other browsing data. Their ads can be designed to promote untrustworthy pages or even cause downloads and/or installation of some unwanted apps by running certain scripts.

Moreover, PUAs can be designed to gather not only browsing-related data but also sensitive, personal details as well.

Threat Summary:

Name	spaceshellvpn.com pop-up
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Mac malware, Mac virus
Fake Claim	Device is infected with a Trojan
Serving IP Address	64.225.2.103
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited three days free trial available.

More examples of websites that are similar to spaceshellvpn[.]com are peachlandeu[.]com, moderation-support[.]network and appleconnect.safellk[.]com. What most of them have in common is that they are designed to trick users into believing that their device is infected and downloading (and installing) a certain application.

Such pages should never be trusted even when promote legitimate apps.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

It is not uncommon that PUAs are distributed by via download and/or installation setups of various other programs. This distribution method is known as "bundling". Users can decline offers to download and/or install unwanted apps via "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings, or unticking certain checkboxes before finishing downloads and/or installations.

However, not all users do that and that is how included PUAs get permission to be downloaded and/or installed together with other programs. Also, quite often PUAs are distributed via deceptive by designing those ads to execute certain scripts. However, users cause unwanted downloads and/or installations only if they click those ads.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Downloads and installations should not be finished without checking setups for settings like "Advanced" "Custom", "Manual", etc., or checkboxes and seeing if there are any unwanted offers that could be declined.

Files and programs should be downloaded from official sites, via direct links, and not from unofficial pages, through third party downloaders, Peer-to-Peer networks like torrent clients, eMule, or other sources of this kind, or installed via third party installers. Advertisements on questionable pages should not be clicked as well.

It is common for such ads to be designed to open other sites of this or even cause unwanted downloads and/or installations. Unwanted, unknown or suspicious apps (extensions, plug-ins, add-ons) that are installed on a browser should be removed, software of this kind that is installed on a computer should be removed too.

If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.

Text in the pop-up window:

YOUR IPHONE HAS BEEN COMPROMISED
Immediate Action Is Required!
OK

Screenshot of the spaceshellvpn[.]com background page:

Text in this page:

Apple Security Monday
28 December 2020
Important notice. Your device is currently infected with a Trojan virus!

Your phone's memory is already having 17% of damage. Prompt action is required, otherwise,
the device will become defective and all your data including accounts, photos, and payment data will be available to third parties.

Immediately install the trusted free app from the AppStore to remove the virus and secure your device.

1 minutes and 06 seconds
Remove Virus
Detected By Apple.

To enable pop-up blocking, fraudulent website warnings, and remove web browsing data in mobile Apple devices, follow these steps:

First, go to "Settings", and then scroll down to find and tap "Safari".

Check if the "Block Pop-ups" and "Fraudulent Website Warning" toggles are enabled. If not, enable them immediately. Then, scroll down and tap "Advanced".

Tap "Website Data" and then "Remove All Website Data".

Instant automatic Mac malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced computer skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited three days free trial available.

Quick menu:

• What is spaceshellvpn[.]com?
• STEP 1. Remove PUA related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove rogue extensions from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue add-ons from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove potentially unwanted plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox.

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

Potentially unwanted applications removal:

Remove 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 spaceshellvpn.com pop-up 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.

spaceshellvpn.com pop-up removal from Internet browsers:

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Remove spaceshellvpn.com pop-up 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.

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

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Remove spaceshellvpn.com pop-up 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.

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

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Remove spaceshellvpn.com pop-up 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.

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

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