Do I have a virus?

[wmf]

Hi,

At random times when I am working on my MacBook a message box will appear in the upper right corner offering various things: "protect your mac against malware threats, protect now" "ATTENTION Your sensitive information is at risk! Scan and Protect Your Identity" "Advanced Mac Cleaner Halloween Deal"

I don't know what is generating these messages or how to make it stop. Could someone help me please? I am attaching a screenshot of the latest message and how it appears.

(The appearance of the messages might have corresponded with me downloading "Paint 2" from the App Store. I needed something quick and dirty to markup an image for someone and got it for that. It might have nothing to do with that.)

 

[Allyance]

Sounds like Malware, not a virus. Very common on the PC platform to install malware to try and sell you something. Try downloading MalwareBytes, should take care of it. Might have come in through an email too.

 

[wmf]

Yuck! I have heard of Malware didn't think it could infect me on a Mac. Thanks alot, I'll download MalwareBytes.
[doublepost=1509389128][/doublepost]

Sounds like Malware, not a virus. Very common on the PC platform to install malware to try and sell you something. Try downloading MalwareBytes, should take care of it. Might have come in through an email too.

I am finding that MalwareBytes costs $40. I am downloading Total AV for free... not sure if that will get it. Do you recommend buying MalwareBytes just to fix one problem?

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

What about the free trial? FREE DOWNLOAD

 

[BrianBaughn]

Malwarebytes will scan your Mac without having to pay. The payment is for adding background services that continuously check your Mac.

 

[Fishrrman]

One more vote for the MalwareBytes FREE version, at the link above...

 

[Gregg2]

Does Malwarebytes also do what Ad Block Plus does? If not (I don't think it does) then I'd recommend that to head off the problem.

 

[KALLT]

Does Malwarebytes also do what Ad Block Plus does? If not (I don't think it does) then I'd recommend that to head off the problem.

A custom window that looks like that cannot be created in Safari. This is almost certainly adware.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

The makers of Advanced Mac Cleaner should be punished. What a pesky application. Definitely malware and a trojan. Difficult to remove. If you try to uninstall it manually you get a fake message "Critical warning from Apple Support. Your computer has been blocked because it is infected with viruses and spyware. Call..." and you can't browse the internet.
I finally could remove it from my friend's computer with Clamxav and Avast and delete the homepage Rack-search.
Avoid Advanced Mac Cleaner like the plague.