“The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus (Virus Removal Guide) - Removal Instructions
“The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus Removal Guide
What is “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus?
“The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” scam hits the Web
“The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus operates as another browser malware which tries to lure visitors into downloading the ttf.js[1] file. This social engineering assault targets legitimate sites and corrupts their web code.
As a result, users do not see the original content but instead the collection of unreadable files. In order to make the page readable again, visitors are urged to enable the font. However, such action might result in the infection of ransomware or another complex malware. The infection was found on lcmarkets.com.au. At the moment, the site is restored and safe to use.
The infection is identical to several scams appeared before:
• The “HoeflerText” wasn’t found
• The “Roboto Condensed” font was not found
• The ArialText font was not found
All these alerts contain the same design. They target Chrome and Firefox users. The predecessor of these social engineering attacks is regarded to be the “HoeflerText wasn’t found” scam[2]. It appeared at the beginning of this year. At that time, the scam delivered a much more ominous content – Spora ransomware.
Later on, this scam was used to deliver Panda Banker and Zeus virus versions. Other variations of this attack, “Roboto Condensed” font “The ArialText font”, do not seem to be affiliated with any particular ransomware, though some suspected that ArialText scam might have been spreading Cerber ransomware.
Taking into account these malvertising campaigns, “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” alerts should be taken with care. It urges you to download ttf.js file from bmooc.net site[2]. Later on, it will extract and drop winhost.exe file which mat take approximately 3MB space on a disc.
Considering these aspects, do not enable the extension, In case you accidentally did, remove “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus right away. FortectIntego or Malwarebytes or another malware elimination tool might come in handy. Below you will find more information on “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” removal. It would be useful to discuss its distribution campaigns to avoid such scams.
Foisting malware in legitimate sites
Distributing malware from compromised domains remains to be a popular trend. In addition, fraudsters take higher risk to break into legitimate sites and place their malicious content. After the resent case of Zeus Panda virus when felons exploited Google search results’ functionality to mislead users to corrupted domains[3], hacking legitimate websites is becoming a frequent phenomenon.
In order to escape “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” hijack or similar browser scam, keep your browser up-to-date and scan it with an updated anti-virus as well as malware elimination tool. They will reduce the chances significantly.
However, since everyone may fall victim to a similar attack, try accessing your wanted online destination via a different browser, e.g., Microsoft Edge or Safari. Such malvertising campaigns are often oriented at Chrome and Firefox users.
Finally, in case the website does not display the content, you will see respective notifications “this site can’t be reached” or similar well-known error message. No fonts or extensions are required to display the content. If you run into a similar one, cancel the page and clean your browser. It is not known yet whether "The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found" scam delivers a specific ransomware virus.
Remove “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” scam
If you cannot access your wanted website and see The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found virus message instead, you might want to reset browser settings. Further instructions are delivered below. They will also help you remove “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus scripts.
In case you accidentally enabled the offered extension, cleaning the browser will not be sufficient. You will also need to reboot winhost.exe and other associated elements. In that case, reboot the PC in Safe Mode and launch a security application. After you login back to normal mode, inspect your Task Manager for any unusual tasks possible draining CPU usage. You might also repeat the scan. These steps should complete “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” removal.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found prefers targeting Chrome and Firefox users. Even if you got redirected to the compromised web page at least once, choose the removal guidelines for your browser and follow them carefully, You might need to reset the settings.
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- 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.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- 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:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.
Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- 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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.
Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data…
- Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content and press Clear.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.
Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.
Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- 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:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.
Delete from Safari
Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of “The Mercury Text Font Was Not Found” registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting malware
Stream videos without limitations, no matter where you are
There are multiple parties that could find out almost anything about you by checking your online activity. While this is highly unlikely, advertisers and tech companies are constantly tracking you online. The first step to privacy should be a secure browser that focuses on tracker reduction to a minimum.
Even if you employ a secure browser, you will not be able to access websites that are restricted due to local government laws or other reasons. In other words, you may not be able to stream Disney+ or US-based Netflix in some countries. To bypass these restrictions, you can employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN, which provides dedicated servers for torrenting and streaming, not slowing you down in the process.
Data backups are important – recover your lost files
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to personal data. Once it is executed on a machine, it launches a sophisticated encryption algorithm that locks all your files, although it does not destroy them. The most common misconception is that anti-malware software can return files to their previous states. This is not true, however, and data remains locked after the malicious payload is deleted.
While regular data backups are the only secure method to recover your files after a ransomware attack, tools such as Data Recovery Pro can also be effective and restore at least some of your lost data.
- ^ "Mercury Text" Popup on Chrome & Firefox Pushes Coinminer. Malware-Traffic-Analysis. Malware research.
- ^ Beware of The Fake "HoeflerText" font wasn't found Pop-Up (Updated). BleepingComputer. News, reviews and tech support.
- ^ Julie Splinters. Hackers' masterpiece – Zeus virus foisted among browser's search results. 2-spyware. Security and spyware news.