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Wajam Yahoo Redirect (Chrome, Safari, Firefox)

U

U2Boy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 15, 2011
24
0
Hi All,

I am having an issue where when I do a google search, it redirects to yahoo search, but shows as search.yahoo wajam. I cannot figure out how to remove this. I tried Malwarebytes and it is not picking it up. I tried chrome extensions and wajam is not listed. Anything I can do. This happens on all browsers. I am assuming it is spyware?

Thanks,
Matt
 
U2Boy said:
Hi All,

I am having an issue where when I do a google search, it redirects to yahoo search, but shows as search.yahoo wajam. I cannot figure out how to remove this. I tried Malwarebytes and it is not picking it up. I tried chrome extensions and wajam is not listed. Anything I can do. This happens on all browsers. I am assuming it is spyware?

Thanks,
Matt
Click to expand...
Did you recently download free software? It most likely came bundled with that download.

I suggest using the app AppCleaner and searching your computer for Wajam.
 
DeltaMac said:
Wajam.com has a support page describing how to uninstall wajam from your browser.
http://www.wajam.com/howto/uninstall
Click to expand...

I think I tried that. So it is not a virus? It certainly creates ads and redirects.
[doublepost=1519837109][/doublepost]
willmtaylor said:
Did you recently download free software? It most likely came bundled with that download.

I suggest using the app AppCleaner and searching your computer for Wajam.
Click to expand...

I did recently download something. I cannot find wajam anywhere. I have app cleaner, but don't know what to remove. I def deleted what I initially downloaded.
 
U2Boy said:
I think I tried that. So it is not a virus? It certainly creates ads and redirects.
Click to expand...
It’s an adware program, not a virus. As I said before, you’ve downloaded it. I am surprised that Malwarebytes didn’t detect it though. Either way, do as I suggested above.
 
I am (pretty) sure that wajam is not an app on your Mac, simply a browser plug-in.
AppCleaner won't "ad" to your problem, but I don't expect it to find the Wajam plug-in.

This would be a good opportunity to use the good app EtreCheck. That will often help by alerting you when there are "unusual" login items and others.
EtreCheck is no longer free, but you can do (5?) free scans, just to try it out.
 
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DeltaMac said:
I am (pretty) sure that wajam is not an app on your Mac, simply a browser plug-in.
AppCleaner won't "ad" to your problem, but I don't expect it to find the Wajam plug-in.

This would be a good opportunity to use the good app EtreCheck. That will often help by alerting you when there are "unusual" login items and others.
EtreCheck is no longer free, but you can do (5?) free scans, just to try it out.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will do that. I can't use app cleaner anyway because I can't find an app to clean or delete.
 
It's probably not much help but I fixed a Windows PC with this same issue: it was a Chrome extension called Flash Playlist. User didn't need remember installing it.
 
CritKlepka said:
It's probably not much help but I fixed a Windows PC with this same issue: it was a Chrome extension called Flash Playlist. User didn't need remember installing it.
Click to expand...
Thanks, however I have removed all extensions in Chrome and it is still there. It starts a google search and redirects to yahoo. It happens in all 3 browsers.
 
U2Boy said:
Thanks, however I have removed all extensions in Chrome and it is still there. It starts a google search and redirects to yahoo. It happens in all 3 browsers.
Click to expand...

Please see what a google search for the word test redirects to. It completely changes to wajam yahoo. I do not have any wajam on my computer.
upload_2018-3-8_20-56-18.png

upload_2018-3-8_20-56-50.png
 
You may have a "customized" DNS server that is affected by that Wajam junk.
Assuming that is the problem, try this:
System Preferences/Network pane.
click on the Location dropdown. Choose Edit Locations... and click the (+) to add a new location.
Name it whatever you like. Click your normal network/internet connection (Wifi, or Ethernet). If Wifi, choose your normal wifi network, and log in to that network. Click the Apply button. You should see that you have a connection (there should be an IP address and the other parts of the server address). If you have something more unusual, just finish the configuration for your new location as listed.
I would suggest that you add public DNS servers.
I like to add OpenDNS settings under the DNS server window.
If you don't know what those are:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
Click OK on that window, then click the Apply button to save that complete location setting.

You should choose to restart your Mac. Now, try your browser.
 
Last edited:
The most common explanations for this behavior are:

homepage URL (these are often modified by adware installers, but are usually NOT removed by MalwareBytes and other cleaners)
add-in toolbar (usually a browser extension, but not always)
adware (MalwareBytes should clean - if not, post at the MalwareBytes site, Thomas Reed is usually quite responsive)
browser extension (you've already addressed this)

You've already checked the last two without luck, give the first two a go. I don't have Chrome, so I can't give you guidance on that, but in Safari go to Safari > Preferences > General for the homepage preference. If there's an unwanted toolbar, you should have an option somewhere on the toolbar to remove it.
 
But, that's a work-around - a trade-off that you can have, assuming that you don't want your searches re-directed.
I would say that if searching with Google results in redirects to yahoo for you, then something that works properly (duckduckgo) is better than something that annoys you every time (google)

But, here's 2 more steps that I would try:
In Safari, change your default search engine to DuckDuckGo (do that in Safari Preferences/Search tab.)
At the same time, uncheck the box "include search engine suggestions"
Quit Safari. Use that with Safari for a day two.
You may find you like it. DuckDuckGo is much less likely to allow redirects that you don't want. If you really can't deal with the simplicity of DuckDuckGo, then change the default search engine back to Google.
Check if Google still re-directs your browsing to yahoo (check with sites that you KNOW have re-directed your browsing every time.

I still suspect that you have a plug-in or extension that is causing you your problem with Yahoo.
And, I also think that finding the culprit will be a challenge, unless you happen to find it, perhaps after a file search.

What was the result when you tried a scan of your system using EtreCheck? If you don't understand the log that you get, you can post that here for others to view (Etrecheck removes any personal information from that report)
 
Actually, check your apps in Applications. I was having the exact same problem. I found this weird app called "spi" and removed it. I heard that there are also sometimes much larger tips like "yahoo..." or "Wajam...." but just double check your apps.
 
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N30N said:
Actually, check your apps in Applications. I was having the exact same problem. I found this weird app called "spi" and removed it. I heard that there are also sometimes much larger tips like "yahoo..." or "Wajam...." but just double check your apps.
Click to expand...
This actually worked well for me!! I tried everything from scanning for viruses, removing extension, uninstalling and reinstalling chrome, etc. Thanks!!!!
 
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