Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert - How to remove

Fake virus alerts are a way for fraudsters to sell their software by convincing people that it’s official, Apple-endorsed security tools. In reality, Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live and other, similar URLs (like Wedyoulife.live and Apple.com-mac-optimizer.icu) host malicious websites that push junkware and then charge people for it.

The idea that the creators of Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live’s pop-ups have is this:

1. Infect websites to redirect visitors to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live.
2. On Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live, show a fake virus detection alert to convince users that their Mac is infected. This alert should look like it's coming from the real Apple support.
3. Pretend to scan the user’s computer, find viruses, threaten that if the viruses are not removed immediately, irreparable harm will be caused to the Mac.
4. Offer an application to “remove all viruses”.
5. The application shows exaggerated results to make it look like the Mac is really in trouble.
6. Charge for using the application to remove the “issues”.

The end goal of Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live’s creators is, of course, to make money. This whole scheme is evidently pretty successful because it’s still going on, new virus-detecting sites are being created, and new unwanted applications are being spread – the latest one might be Super Mac Cleaner, but Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live probably distributes Cleanup My Mac.

Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live is a malicious website:

Type of threat	Scareware Browser hijacker Scam
Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live characteristics	Error sounds A timer used to create a sense of urgency Made-up viruses being diagnoed by a too-fast scan of your Mac
Causes of Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live virus alers	Malvertising An adware infection
Stopping the virus alerts	Delete malicious files (Combo Cleaner) Remove suspicious browser extensions and clear browser data Ramp up browser security settings Avoid sites that deliver aggressive ads Don’t interact with Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live

Causes of Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live alerts and how to avoid them

Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live is made to look like it could be a system warning: it has warning sounds, can go to full-screen view, and if you try to click out of it, it might refuse to obey. It’s a webpage, though, which means that anyone can go there and find the exact same warning. No matter where you encounter a link to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live, regardless of the real health of your computer, the page will show the fake virus alert.

Infected sites and malicious ads

As mentioned, Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live shows when trying to visit websites that were infected. An infected site will regularly redirect to the address that the hackers set it to and the owner of the infected site might not even know what happened, so if a website you trust has started showing Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live alerts, consider writing to its owners.

Malicious ads might be at fault and cause redirects to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live, too. Sites that upload films and TV shows for free are especially vulnerable. Adult sites, streams that have pop-under ads, various pirate sites all tend to have aggressive, dangerous, excessive ads. They open new tabs in your browser unexpectedly and some of those sites are able to take over the browser.

Infection in your Mac

Being redirected to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live might be the result of visiting a random infected site, or it might be caused by an infection in your browser or your Mac.

How to end the Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live alerts

The first step in protecting yourself online is to make sure that browser security settings are configured to protect you. A secured browser makes a huge difference – for every pop-up that your browser allows to show, many are prevented in the background. There are a number fo steps you can take to avoid pop-ups (like using ad-blockers), but stopping ads that have somehow invaded your device is a bit more difficult.

When the Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live alert or a similar one shows up, close the browser tab with Cmd+W. If that doesn’t work, force quit the browser by pressing Cmd+Alt+Esc, then restart the browser while holding down the Shift key to avoid the malicious site from being loaded again (you can find the tabs that you lost in your history).

If the pop-ups reappear, check what browser add-ons you have installed and disable or remove any that are suspicious (the more detailed instructions are in the following section). You can also try clearing browser data, though this will also log you out of websites. For Safari, go to Safari, Preferences, Advanced, and tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar option. Then go to the main menu again and go to Develop, then Empty Caches. You might also want to go to Safari, Preferences, Privacy, Manage Website Data, and then remove the saved data. For Chrome, from the main menu, click on Chrome, click on Clear Browsing Data, select the time range that goes to before the pop-ups, and press Clear Data.

If the pop-ups still show up even when you are not visiting shady websites, scan your Mac with an anti-malware scanner, like Combo Cleaner. Delete files that are found to be suspicious. This is the way to go if the pop-ups appear right in your desktop.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopHow to remove Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert on the extensions list and click on the recycle bin icon next to it.
• Click on 'Chrome' button at the top left corner. Select 'Preferences' on a drop-down menu box.
• Find 'Search' options on Settings tab. If your search engine is changed, click 'Manage Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• On the same page find 'Show home button' checkbox and change your homepage.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• On the 'Preferences' menu window, scroll down to the bottom and find 'Reset settings' button. Click it.
• Confirm your selection and click 'Reset' on the following window.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.
Top

How To remove Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert from Firefox on Mac OS:

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press cmd+Shift+A on your keyboard).
• Go through Extensions list, remove everything Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
• Enter “about:preferences” in URL bar and hit enter.
• Open Search settings tab.
• If your search engine is changed, click 'Default Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Preferences-> General. Enter a preferable URL to the home page field.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Apple.com-optimizing-mac.live Viruses Alert, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.