What is Advanced Mac Cleaner IT security specialists has determined that Advanced Mac Cleaner is a potentially unwanted program (PUP), already at the first sight of which there are various doubts. It’s named “Advanced Mac Cleaner” claims to help users remove unnecessary apps, clean disks, find and remove duplicate and junk files.
Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner rogue optimization tool from Mac OS X to stop its frustrating alerts and undo the concomitant bad effects it calls forth.
Update: October 2019
Advanced Mac Cleaner usually appears on Mac boxes out of the blue and floods the victim’s experience with annoying warning messages. Also known as Mac Cleaner, it dupes the user into thinking that their machine has got numerous problems hindering normal performance. According to the fake alerts, the operating system’s productivity is impacted by junk files, duplicate objects, unneeded login items, crammed up cache, trash and logs, as well as rogue apps that are claimed to occupy excessive hard disk space and thus reduce the processing speed as well as responsiveness to commands. The number of these wrongfully reported items is flagrant, going over 1000 even on a well-tuned or new Mac computer.
It’s not a commonplace distribution practice that’s leveraged by Advanced Mac Cleaner makers to promote their nasty brainchild. A great deal of infected users have caught this pseudo optimizer when installing free tools such as FileZilla or updating Adobe Flash Player via downloads from unofficial sources. In these cases, the setup wizard prompts you that an extra applet will be installed as a bonus to make the Mac run smoother. Some people are prudent enough to avoid such offers, which are generally known to deliver adware programs, but this caution doesn’t always help. Unless the bundle is manually unchecked and thus opted out of from the start, Advanced Mac Cleaner will still be installed in the background.
Furthermore, the culprit may additionally cross-promote affiliated scareware like Mac Adware Cleaner by means of prompts on its GUI. To add insult to injury, it may hijack the victim’s default web browser and redirect their traffic to landing pages pushing its licensed version or a copy of another rogue system utility, such as Mac Tonic or Mac Auto Fixer. The malware is also known to propagate alongside browser redirect viruses and persistent adware apps that affect the victim’s web surfing experience. One of the notorious campaigns pushing the scareware in question relies on sketchy browser alerts that report alleged infection with a combo of 3 viruses called Tapsnake, CronDNS, and Dubfishicv. The victims are redirected to phony web pages that mimic AppleCare and insist on urgent download of Advanced Mac Cleaner to sort out the problem that isn’t there in the first place. It appears that the gang behind the rogue program in question is deploying a well-orchestrated malicious marketing campaign with a distinct flavor of social engineering.
The user may be unaware of this forcible setup from the get-go, but not until a message like the one above pops up. It says that a huge number of issues have been found, specifying this information as follows “Issues may include duplicate files, system & internet junk, rogue software & recoverable drive space. Fix and enjoy a performance boost.” The ‘Start Repair’ button, if clicked, takes you to the junk application’s main interface that displays high improvement potential for each cluster of problems. Obviously, cleaning the purported bugs is a paid service. At that point, it’s reasonable to contemplate over what’s happening: you are being told to pay for rectifying issues that do not exist. It’s certainly the best move to get rid of the Advanced Mac Cleaner scam rather than follow the evildoers’ recommendations.
Another flavor of this scareware problem surfaced in October 2019. It was precipitated by a release of Apple’s macOS Catalina 10.15. After upgrading their operating system to the new version, numerous users started experiencing obnoxious popup activity with Advanced Mac Cleaner at its core. The annoying notifications say, “helperamc will damage your computer. You should move it to the Bin.” The process mentioned on these alerts is spawned by the rogue system tool under scrutiny and can be seen in the Activity Monitor, along with other related executables called “amcuninstall” and “hlpramc”.
Here is what’s happening: the latest macOS build, evidently, leverages an improved algorithm to identify potentially harmful apps. In particular, it will flag a program as a malicious one if it was installed on an unknown date, if its installer was downloaded from an unverified source, or in case some other telltale signs of sketchy activity are spotted. To let the users know about such suspicious objects, the system displays the above-mentioned popup dialogs. In this situation, the infection is probably in a dormant state and doesn’t manifest itself conspicuously. The Catalina update has simply unearthed the issue due to new security perks it delivers. Unfortunately, although the warnings include a “Move to Bin” button, it doesn’t work as intended. Therefore, the victims have to do their homework and find a way to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner despite its persistence.
Advanced Mac Cleaner manual removal for Mac
The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the order specified.
- Open up the Utilities folder as shown below
- Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the screen and double-click on it
- Under Activity Monitor, find the entry for Advanced Mac Cleaner, select it and click Quit Process
- A dialog should pop up, asking if you are sure you would like to quit the Advanced Mac Cleaner (it can be manifested as an object named helperamc) executable. Select the Force Quit option
- Expand the Go menu in Apple Finder and select Go to Folder
- Type or paste the following string in the folder search dialog: /Library/LaunchAgents
- Once the LaunchAgentsdirectory opens up, find the following entries in it and move them to Trash:
- com.pcv.hlpramc.plist
- com.pcv.helperamc.plist
- com.pcv.amcuninstall.plist
- com.PCvark.AdvancedMacCleaner.plist
- Use the Go to Folder lookup feature again to navigate to the folder named ~/Library/LaunchAgents. When this path opens, look for the same entries (see above) and send them to Trash
- Similarly, go to the ~Library/Application Support folder. Locate and move the following entries to Trash:
- Advanced Mac Cleaner
- amc
- Click the Go button again, but this time select Applications on the list. Find the entry for Advanced Mac Cleaner entry on the interface, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. If user password is required, go ahead and enter it
- Now go to Apple Menu and pick the System Preferences option
- Select Accounts and click the Login Items button. Mac OS will come up with the list of the items that launch when the box is started up. Locate Advanced Mac Cleaner there and click on the '-' button
Use automatic tool to completely uninstall Advanced Mac Cleaner from your Mac
- Download and install MacBooster application (read review). The tool provides both optimization and security features for your Mac. Before you get down to obliterating Advanced Mac Cleaner virus proper, consider checking your machine for other security risks and performance issues by hitting the Scan button. Download Now
- Proceed to the Uninstaller feature, find Advanced Mac Cleaner on the Applications list and have MacBooster completely eliminate all components of the app from your Mac by clicking Uninstall in the bottom part of the GUI. Doing so will ensure all components of the malware and its remainders, which may have not been removed in the manual way, will be thoroughly cleaned up.
FAQ
Unlike benign software, Advanced Mac Cleaner is a stubborn app that attempts to complicate the uninstall process. It means that you need to circumvent its hindrance before deleting the associated components and files. This adds an extra step to the removal logic. In most cases, the following workflow does the trick:
- Open the Activity Monitor, find an entry named “helperamc”, “hlpramc” or another process with “amc” part in its name, and quit the malicious executable.
- Look for related files (com.pcv.hlpramc.plist, com.pcv.helperamc.plist, com.pcv.amcuninstall.plist, com.PCvark.AdvancedMacCleaner.plist, Advanced Mac Cleaner, amc) in the LaunchAgents and Application Support folders. Remove these objects if found.
- Go to the Finder and select Applications. Spot ‘Advanced Mac Cleaner’ app and move it to the Trash. Empty the Trash when done.
Ideally, this technique should eradicate the scareware, but with the caveat that the files may vary as new versions of Advanced Mac Cleaner appear in the wild. Stay tuned for updates in the guide above to make sure your removal efforts are effective.
Advanced Mac Cleaner is a rogue system utility that wrongfully purports to look for and fix Mac performance issues and privacy risks. Instead of carrying through with these promises, it reports non-existent problems and tries to pressure the user into buying its licensed version to unlock the repair features. This scareware is installed behind the user’s back, usually arriving with complex app bundles camouflaged as one useful program.
At first sight, it may seem that the impact of Advanced Mac Cleaner is restricted to annoying scan reports and scary-looking popup alerts. That’s a misconception. This fake optimizer isn’t safe to use, because it can harvest your sensitive information and send it to the cybercriminals in charge of the campaign. Your usernames and passwords, as well as credit card information, are potentially at risk as long as this pest is running on your Mac.
No, it’s not. The huge amount of negative feedback about this program speaks volumes about its dirty practices, not to mention the obvious elements of foul play in its modus operandi. Advanced Mac Cleaner is distributed via covert software bundles and fake virus alerts shown on numerous malicious websites. Once installed, it deluges the host system with deceptive scans and popup alerts reporting hundreds or even thousands of imaginary performance and security issues. The objective of this brainwashing is to coerce the victim to purchase the app’s license, which is supposedly a prerequisite of addressing the detected threats. Another shady quirk is that Advanced Mac Cleaner is harder to uninstall than regular Mac applications. All in all, this scareware is neither legit nor safe.
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The Advanced Mac Cleaner threat could come back on your Mac several times if you do not manage to detect and remove its hidden files and main objects. We suggest that you download Combo Cleaner as it will scan for all types of malicious objects, installed with it. Removal with Combo Cleaner can happen in about 5 minutes time and may save you hours in trying to uninstall Advanced Mac Cleaner by yourself.
Further information on Combo Cleaner and uninstall guide. Before proceeding, please see Combo Cleaner Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Bear in mind that Combo Cleaner scanner is completely free. If the software detects a virus, you can also remove threats by purchasing Combo Cleaner’s full version.
This is a post, created to explain what is Advanced Mac Cleaner how you can effectively remove it from your computer.
Advanced Mac Cleaner a browser hijacker that takes over your web browser and begins to create multiple different settings and sites to automatically pop-up on your browser. The hijacker, also known as PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) may not only display Advanced Mac Cleaner pages, but may also redirect you to various sites of third-party origin. Since some of those sites appearing on the ads may be scamming, malicious and may lead to even more adware(or worse), it is strongly advisable that you read this removal article for Advanced Mac Cleaner browser hijacker.| Threat Name | Advanced Mac Cleaner |
| Category | Trojan Horse. |
| Main Activity | Slithers onto your Mac and may steal information from it. A heuristic detection for most conventional trojan horses. |
| Signs of Presence | Slow PC, changed settings, error messages, suspicious PC behavior. Logins from unknown sources on your online accounts. |
| Spread | Via malicious e-mail spam and set of infection tools. |
| Detection+Removal | Note!For Mac users, please use the following instructions. |
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What Harm Can Advanced Mac Cleaner Trojan Do to My Mac?
In this digital age, Virus apps can be very significant not only to your Mac, but to you as well. Since most users keep their important files on Macs, all of their crucial information becomes at risk. This means that your personal ID number or other financial data that you may have used on a Mac infected by Advanced Mac Cleaner virus can be compromised and used for malicious purposes. This is the primary reason why this threat should be dealt with immediately.
The reason why viruses, like the Advanced Mac Cleaner threat are a significant menace, is that it has multiple different malicious functions that are utilised on your Mac. The features of a virus may vary, depending on what type it is, but it is safe to assume that the Advanced Mac Cleaner virus can do the following on your PC:
- Steal the passwords from the Macr and obtain the keystrokes from it via Keyloggers.
- Destroy data on your Mac, like delete files. This may even result in damaging your Mac OS.
- Remotely monitor your activity. This means that whatever you do and see on your screen, the hacker who infected you can also see.
- Disable your Windows operating system via a DDoS attack (Denial of Service).
- Use your Mac’s resources (CPU and Video Card) to mine cryptocurrencies, like BitCoin.
- Harvest system data and login information automatically from your web browsers.
- Install other viruses on your Mac which may cause even more damage.
- Display fake tech support screens that can lure you into a scam.
The primary method which you can use to detect a Trojan is to analyse hidden processes on your Mac This is achievable by downloading process monitoring apps, like Process Explorer. However, you will have to have a trained eye on how to detect the malicious processes and how to remove those without damaging your Mac. This is why, as a swift solution, a Mac-specific removal tool should be used, according to security experts. Such removal software will automatically scan for viruses like Advanced Mac Cleaner and other suspicious apps and get rid of them quickly and safely while protecting your Mac against threats in the future.
Note!Advanced Mac Cleaner could remain on your Mac if you are not careful during removal. We recommend that you download and run a scan with Combo Cleaner now to professionally clean up your Mac in now just in 5 minutes..
Preparation Before Removing Advanced Mac Cleaner
1.Make sure to backup your files.
2.Make sure to have this instructions page always open so that you can follow the steps.
3.Be patient as the removal may take some time.
Step 1: Uninstall Advanced Mac Cleaner from Your Mac:
Advanced Mac Cleaner Remove
Step 2: Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner from Your Web Browsers.
1. Remove any Advanced Mac Cleaner presence from Google Chrome.- Open Chrome and click on the drop-down menu at the top-right corner.
- From the menu open “Tools” and click on “Extensions”.
- Find any Advanced Mac Cleaner – related add-ons and extensions and click on the garbage icon to remove them.
- Open Firefox and select the top-right menu.
- From it, click on “Add-ons” setting.
- Click on the suspicious extension and click “Remove”.
- Restart Firefox.
- Start Safari.
- Click on the Safari drop-down menu on top-right.
- From the drop-down menu, click Preferences.
- Click on “Uninstall” and accept any prompts.
Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus Scam
Step 3:Run a free scan now to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner files and objects from your Mac.
According to security professionals, the best way to effectively secure your Mac against threats such as Advanced Mac Cleaner is to scan it with an advanced cleaner software. Combo Cleaner has the professional capabilities of detecting all threats and remove them from your Mac safe and fast.