How to remove Clean-your-pc.xyz ads

Clean-your-pc.xyz imitates legitimate security software scans to fool users into downloading malicious programs

Clean-your-pc.xyz is a deceptive website you might come across when browsing the internet on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, or another web browser. While the reason for its redirect can vary, users never arrive on the scam page intentionally. The redirects to it are commonly initiated by link clicks on other malicious websites or adware that is secretly running in the background of the device.

As soon as people enter Clean-your-pc.xyz, they are immediately presented with what looks like a security scan allegedly performed by a trustworthy security vendor – McAfee or Norton.

Fake scan results claim that several viruses were found on the system and that they need to be eliminated by the security software, the license of which, according to the message, has expired and needs to be renewed.

Crooks attempt to monetize by employing a pay-per-install scheme, although there's no guarantee that offered software is genuine – it might be a fake version or simply a malicious program that, once installed, would perform secret tasks, including installation of other malware or extensive information tracking of keystrokes and other sensitive details.

If you have encountered this scam page, you should not panic, as all the displayed results are fake. Do not interact with any page elements or download software, and instead, use legitimate methods to check your system for infections.

Clever scam techniques help crooks reach their goals

Clean-your-pc.xyz is a fake virus scam – a form of online fraud that has been extremely prevalent because it is very effective. In the recent few months, we have seen an incredible rise in fake websites that attempt to imitate legitimate security vendors, including Yourdatasecurityservice.com, Allowpcprotect.com, or Secureform.xyz  – these operate in an identical manner, most likely having the same cybercrooks behind them.

Social engineering tricks such as the usage of familiar names in cybersecurity are also not new. It gives people the reason to believe these scams, making them feel like they are legitimate.

As soon as people land on the malicious page, several scans seem to take place. The process imitates the scan performed by legitimate security tools when looking for infections. After a short while, the results are shown as follows:

Your PC is infected with 5 viruses!

ACTION REQUIRED

Your McAfee Subscription Has Expired!
Renew now to keep your PC protected.
If your PC is unprotected, it is at risk for viruses and other malware.

Do not interact with these messages or shown links. If you have, please read the information below that could help you recover easier.

Tips on recovery

Cybercriminals know a little more about how to trick users effectively, and they employ scare tactics quite often to reach their goals – timers, threats of dangerous consequences, personal account theft, and similar can often frighten users and make them make irrational decisions, such as downloading of malicious applications that are offered as security tools.

Despite popular belief, it is highly unlikely that your system could get infected just by you entering a website that shows fake notifications. If you have your system fully updated and software vulnerabilities^[1] patched, it becomes impossible.

However, user actions while on a scam site can determine the level of dangerous consequences. For example, downloads of offered applications might result in malware infections or disclosing your personal information might result in further phishing attempts. If you have disclosed your passwords, make sure you change them on all accounts they are used (never reuse passwords, as it is one of the main security hazards so many security experts^[2] warn about).

Make a thorough system check

As explained before, users do not access dangerous websites on purpose but are rather tricked by fake links and automatic scripts hidden on various websites. This can be avoided by not visiting or downloading software from illegal websites – torrents, software cracks, and similar pirated content is often associated with such behavior.

Employing a reputable ad-blocker can also prevent the execution of malicious scripts, although it can have other negative impacts, including broken page elements or prevention of content monetization for legitimate websites.

If you have downloaded any software or interacted with the Clean-your-pc.xyz scam in any other way, we recommend you check your system for infections. Frequent encounters of ads and malicious material online might also be a sign of adware infections, so it is worth taking a look regardless.

You can start by checking programs installed on your system:

Windows

• Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
• Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
• From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
• Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
• If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
• Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.

Mac

While moving apps into Trash is usually how you delete most normal applications, adware tends to create additional files for persistence. Thus, you should look for .plist and other files that could be related to the virus. If you are not sure, skip this step entirely.

1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
2. In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
3. Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)

To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:

1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
2. Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
3. In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
4. Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.

If you are not quite sure what should and what shouldn't be installed on your machine, you should instead employ powerful anti-malware software and perform a full system scan – we recommend using SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes. Not only can security tools locate and remove all the malware-related components, but they can also eliminate the most aggressive adware that causes browser redirects.

You could also check your browsers for unwanted extensions which could have slipped in along with other software. You can usually find them by accessing the “Extensions” section located next to the URL bar o your browser.

Finally, you should also clean your browsers accordingly, as they store cookies^[3] and other caches which could result in Clean-your-pc.xyz ads coming back or continuation of unwanted browser tracking. For that, you can employ FortectIntego or find the manual steps below. You will also find steps to remove the extensions from your browser and ways to reset them if such action is required.