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  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Malware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Jan 2018

How to remove PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED scam

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

Jake Doevan · Computer technology expert

“PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” scam baffles Mac OS X users

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“PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” is nothing but a scam which targets explicitly Mac OS users. If you keep getting these persistent pop ups, it is highly likely that you are affected by a PUP (potentially unwanted program).

After seeing “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” pop-up for the first time, users might think that they are at the high risk of exposing their personal data and, if no action is taken, all the information will be stolen.

“PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” scam advises calling a specific number (which can vary since there are multiple versions of the malware like Error # 268d3 virus) to contact technical support, which will then charge a certain amount of money either for a lengthy phone call itself, or various unneeded services offered by scammers.

The following message is displayed in the popup:

** YOUR APPLE DEVICE HAS A VIRUS **

Apple iOS Alert!!

Error # 268d3

PEGASUS (SPYWARE) ACTIVATED

The system might be infected due to unexpected error!

Please call Apple Care immediately at: +1-8333-370-777

Do not ignore this critical alert.

If you close this page, your Apple Device access will be disabled to prevent further damage to our network.

Your Apple Device has alerted us that it has been infected with a virus and spyware. The following information is being stolen…

> Facebook Login

> Credit Card Details

> Email Account Login

> Photos stored on this Device

You must contact us immediately so that our engineers can walk you through the removal process over the phone. Please call us within the next 5 minutes to prevent your Apple Device from being disabled.

Adware[1] like “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” virus are technically more complicated than regular PUPs as they are designed to surpass firewall which is used to prevent such fake pop-ups from occurring. The complicated code helps scammers to deceive and scare regular users while trying to make some money.

Please be aware that “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” popup has nothing to do with Apple and people who pick up the phone call are not Apple employees. Additionally, fake technicians can ask for a remote access to your Mac. After connecting to your system, they pretend to find problems and malware that does not exist, and then ask for specific payments in exchange for assisting users with these “issues.”[2]

Quite often, scammers will attempt to install malware or change system settings and steal actual login information, such as your social media accounts, credit card accounts, etc. To protect yourself, make sure you remove “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” scam from your computer. The easiest way to do that is to run a full system scan with FortectIntego.

“PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” virus has many similarities with various similar scam schemes, which all claim that user's system is damaged or infected with malware and that the only way of fixing the issue is by calling certain phone lines or by paying “a fine.”

Please, do NOT fall for them because PUPs like these are designed to scam the unaware persons and steal their money. You are highly recommended to take care of “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” removal by eliminating all adware hiding on your PC system.

Tech support scams can get into your Mac with the help of bundling, links in spam e-mails, intrusive ads and extracted suspicious files

To protect yourself from scams like this one, keep in mind that Bundling is used to get PUPs into your system. Usually, users tend to skip many steps and use Quick/Recommended settings when installing new software downloaded from the internet. It is highly advised to read all the installation instructions properly and opt out of any additions to the installation while in Advanced mode.

In addition, PUPs can be obtained while clicking on links in spam e-mails or clicking on intrusive ads, so make sure you are careful with them. It is also not recommended downloading and extracting files of an unknown origin. All these actions can lead to various infections of your machine, so it is essential to be wary at all times.

Uninstalling “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” pop up from the system

Acccording to LosVirus.es[3] experts, in case you have already engaged with scammers, allowed them to access your Mac remotely and paid some money, please do the following:

  1. Do a full scan of your system using security application to remove “PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED” fake alert (even if Apple is not security utilities friendly, you can still install particular anti-malware tools on MacOS). You need to delete any suspicious software found on your system;
  2. Call your bank and revert all the payments that have been made;
  3. Change all your passwords;
  4. Update your Mac with the recent updates as soon as they are available;
  5. Reset browser settings to complete PEGASUS SPYWARE ACTIVATED removal from your computer.

A detailed guide is provided below:

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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