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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · May 2019

How to remove Apple.com-fasting.live

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Ugnius Kiguolis · The mastermind

Apple.com-fasting.live is one of many websites used to scam Mac users about fake virus infections

Apple.com-fasting.live

Apple.com-fasting.live is a scam website that is used in a variety of adware[1] campaigns to make users believe that their Mac operating systems are infected with a variety of viruses, such as non-existent e.tre456_worm_osx. Crooks use social engineering to abuse those who are not familiar with how computers and malware operate, and make them download and install useless software that can even damage their machine.

Users might encounter Apple.com-fasting.live virus when they get redirected from another malicious site or when their computers are infected with adware. These ad-supported applications often focus on displaying pop-ups, deals, offers, and other commercial content on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or other browsers. Unfortunately, it also brings users to scam or phishing sites.

To remove Apple.com-fasting.live fake pop-up from your Mac, you will have to terminate the adware that was most likely installed bundled with another software from the internet. Please check the last section of the article for more details.

Summary
Name Apple.com-fasting.live
Category Adware
Type Mac virus, scam
Operating system targeted macOS, Mac OS X
Infection means Bundled software, third-party app stores, etc.
Symptoms Frequent redirects on all browsers, intrusive ads an pop-ups, changes to web browser settings, etc.
Risk factors Installation of bogus software, money loss, sensitive data leak to unknown parties 
Termination Make use of our manual removal guide or perform a scan with security software
Recovery To recover from adware infection, scan your Mac with FortectIntego

Apple.com-fasting.live is not the only site that is used in these scam campaigns, as Apple.com-clean-os.liveApple.com-speed-macos.liveApple.com-fast.live, and many others are employed as well. These websites look identical, so it is highly likely those same threat actors bought these domains in order to propagate the scam.

Here's what the fake message states to those redirected to Apple.com-fasting.live scam:

Your system is infected with 3 viruses!

Your Mac is infected with 3 viruses. Our security check found traces of 3 malware and 1 phishing/spyware. System damage: 24.2% – Immediate removal required!

The immediate removal of the viruses is required to prevent further system damage, loss of Apps, or other files. Traces of 1 phishing/spyware were found on your Mac with MacOS 10.14 Mojave.

Personal and banking information at risk,

To avoid more damage click on 'Scan Now' immediately. Our deep scan will provide help immediately.

Crooks behind Apple.com-fasting.live do an excellent job at compiling the message, and many users who are unaware of how viruses or scanners work might easily believe the scam. Once the “Scan Now” button is pressed, a fake scan is performed, claiming the virus infection. Soon after, victims are prompted to install potentially unwanted programs, such as Advanced Mac Cleaner, Mac Tweak Pro, CleanupMy-Mac, and many others.

These applications are often flagged as malicious by a variety of AV engines due to their deceptive behavior: they often claim that Mac machines are heavily damaged or infected with viruses, and users need to purchase a full license in order to fix them. Basically, it is precisely the same scheme that Apple.com-fasting.live uses, it is just performed within the app and not the browser.

The principle is the same, however, and users are scammed of their money, resulting in thousands in damages. Luckily, authorities like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission are dealing with the fraud and fining the unfair companies or individuals responsible.[2] Unfortunately, catching them all proves too difficult, as new scam schemes emerge every day, and bad actors are trying to cash out on innocent users' trust.

To stop the unwanted activity of the potentially unwanted program, you will have to take care of Apple.com-fasting.live removal. For that, you can use security software or eliminated malicious apps manually. After that, we suggest you scan your device with FortectIntego to recover from the adware infection.

Apple.com-fasting.live scam

Pay attention when you are installing new programs on your devices

Getting infected with adware or other potentially unwanted program is quite easy. In most cases, users install shareware or freeware from third party sites or get tricked by allegedly useful functionality of the app. Regardless, both groups of people start suffering from pop-ups, banners, in-text links, and other intrusive content that disturbs web browsing settings. Additionally, PUPs can also bring victims to scam sites where additional unwanted programs or even malware can be downloaded and installed.

To avoid unwanted programs, keep in mind the following:

  • Before installing new programs, check out reviews online – they often indicate whether or not the app is trustworthy;
  • Try to avoid downloading apps fron untrustworthy third-party sites;
  • During the installation, make sure you read the installation instructions carefully, not miss any steps and check for pre-ticked boxes;
  • Make sure mandatory documents are provided (Privacy Policy and Terms of Service);
  • Finally, ensure you pick Advanced/Custom settings instead of Recommended/Quick ones to remove all the unwanted programs from the final installation list.

Stop the unwanted activity caused by Apple.com-fasting.live by removing adware installed on your Mac

It is not true that Macs are immune to cyber infections, despite the popular belief,[3] and they are just as susceptible as Windows, especially when it comes to adware infections. Therefore, in order to remove Apple.com-fasting.live virus, you will have to delete adware that is hidden inside the system. Nevertheless, even if you for redirected to a scam site, it does now mean that the adware is present.

Therefore, to make sure that no potentially unwanted programs are present, you should scan your device with anti-virus software, which would warrant not only Apple.com-fasting.live removal, but also all the other suspicious behavior stemming from adware. If you want to delete the PUP manually, you should also terminate the dubious content that is hidden inside /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/Application Support and  /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, in addition to moving the app to Trash. After that, you should reset each of the installed browsers to make sure the virus does not return.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

  1. In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
  2. If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.Uninstall the unwanted program from Windows

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
  2. Pick Manage Add-ons.
  3. You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.Remove add-ons from Internet Explorer

Change your homepage if it was altered:

  1. Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
  2. Select Internet Options.
  3. In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
  4. Click Apply and then select OK.Reset IE homepage

Delete temporary files:

  1. Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
  2. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
  3. Select relevant fields and press Delete.Clear temporary files from Internet Explorer

Reset Internet Explorer:

  1. Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
  2. Select Reset.
  3. In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.Reset Internet Explorer

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. On the left side, pick Reset settings.
  3. Select Restore settings to their default values.
  4. Confirm with Reset.
  5. This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
  2. Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.Remove extensions from Safari

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  3. From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.Reset Safari

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