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“Virus found” tech support scam virus (Tech Support Scam) - Removal Guide

by Gabriel E. Hall - - | Type: Adware

“Virus found” tech support scam virus Removal Guide

What is “Virus found” tech support scam virus?

Be aware of the lies told by authors of “Virus found” tech support scam virus

“Virus found” tech support scam virus is another crooks’ attempt to make naive computer users call fake support line to get help with malware removal.[1] The misleading pop-up might occur anytime when browsing the web. The message tells that computer may not be protected, and this pop-up shows up more than once, users are urged to call Windows support.[2] The crooks provide a +1-866-261-297 phone number. No matter how many times this pop-up interrupts you, you should not call this number. It might be charged more than a regular call, but it’s the least problem. People who are waiting for you call might be prepared to convince you into purchasing bogus malware removal tool or/and revealing your private information. There’s no doubt that you need to remove “Virus found” tech support scam along with the program which is responsible for delivering this misleading warning. The research revealed that particular adware program might trigger this message. Thus, if you received this alert, you might also have noticed redirects to Virus-found.in or ads provided by this bogus site.

“Virus found” tech support scam malware might deliver a misleading warning in all popular web browsers, such IE, Mozilla, Chrome, etc. Apart from this alert, you might also notice an increased amount of other online ads, banners and other types of shady commercial content. We want to point out that you should never click on these ads, and most importantly, do not call to the fake support line. Even if you are curious what crooks have to say, you should not let your curiosity to cost you a lot. We can assure that these shady people will demand a ridiculous amount of money[3] for cleaning your computer from viruses. Take our advice and invest in professional security software, such as FortectIntego. It will help to perform “Virus found” tech support scam removal and protect your PC from similar threats in the future.[4]

The image of "Virus found" tech support scam virusPeople hiding behind "Virus found" tech support scam want naive netizens to call to the fake support line to get help with malware removal.

How did this PUP get inside the computer?

PUPs are spreading with the help of freeware and shareware. They are attached as extra components and can silently enter the system if users install freeware using Recommended or Standard setup. These installation settings do not inform about third-party apps and do not ask whether you want to download them or not. By using these settings, you agree to install whole software package without having a possibility to “unpack” it first. Thus, in this way, the program which is responsible for delivering “Virus found” ads stepped into your computer as well. However, you could have avoided this PUP, if you had chosen Advanced or Custom installation of the freeware. During the installation, you should carefully look at each step and read what is said. You may find the list of third-party apps or pre-selected agreement to replace your current homepage with a suspicious search engine. Your task is to untick all these entries and statement in order to avoid redirects to questionable sites, potentially dangerous ads and other problems, such as “Virus found” tech support scam.[5] If you want to start clean and do not make the same mistake again, you should also get used to reading Terms and Agreements, EULA, and other documents provided by the developers of the software. What is more, you should not forget to choose only reliable sources for downloads if you do not want to install malware unintentionally.

How to eradicate “Virus found” tech support scam pop-ups?

In order to make “Virus found” ads stop, you should locate and delete the adware program which is responsible for delivering them. For this task, you have two options. You can either investigate computer’s system manually or employ a professional anti-malware software. The first method is more complicated than the second one; however, both of them are efficient, and you should choose that “Virus found” removal option which suits your needs the best. If you decide to go for the first option, you may find our prepared instructions handy. Also, we want to remind that it’s important to detect and delete all PUPs from the system and web browsers. If you want to remove “Virus found” automatically, you need to update your current security software and run a full system scan. If your computer is not protected with antivirus, you should obtain one of the programs presented below.

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.

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What to do if failed?
If you failed to fix virus damage using Fortect Intego, submit a question to our support team and provide as much details as possible.
Fortect Intego has a free limited scanner. Fortect Intego offers more through scan when you purchase its full version. When free scanner detects issues, you can fix them using free manual repairs or you can decide to purchase the full version in order to fix them automatically.
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Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Fortect, try running SpyHunter 5.
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Malwarebytes
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Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Intego, try running Combo Cleaner.
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Getting rid of “Virus found” tech support scam virus. Follow these steps

Uninstall from Windows

In order to get rid of “Virus found” tech support scam virus, you need to find and delete potentially unwanted program which is responsible for delivering this annoying pop-up warning. The guidelines below will help you to perform this task successfully.

Instructions for Windows 10/8  machines:

  1. Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program. Uninstall from Windows 1
  3. From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
  4. Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
  5. If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
  6. Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK. Uninstall from Windows 2

If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program. Uninstall from Windows 7/XP
  3. Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
  4. At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
  5. In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
  6. Click OK once the removal process is finished.

Delete from macOS

Remove items from Applications folder:

  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) Uninstall from Mac 1

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. Uninstall from Mac 2

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Follow the instructions to delete all suspicious entries from the Microsoft Edge and free your browser from “Virus found” pop-ups.

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 on Uninstall at the bottom. 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 Privacy & security.
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select everything (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 Disable if you found any suspicious domain.

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

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.

  1. Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
  2. Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
  3. Right-click on them and pick Delete Advanced MS Edge reset 1
  4. Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
  5. 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 Advanced MS Edge reset 2

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. Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

If you see “Virus found” tech support scam message, there’s a possibility that suspicious ads codes have been installed on Mozilla Firefox. Thus, you need to reset your browser in order to remove them.

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 unwanted plugin 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 Options.
  3. Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.

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, as well as Cached Web Content and press 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

The guidelines below will help you to restore Google Chrome after the infection.

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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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 unwanted extensions from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
  3. Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall. Remove extensions from Safari

Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Clear History…
  2. From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
  3. Confirm with Clear History. Clear cookies and website data from Safari

Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. Go to Advanced tab.
  3. Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  4. From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches. Reset Safari

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 “Virus found” tech support scam 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 adware

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.

About the author
Gabriel E. Hall
Gabriel E. Hall - Passionate web researcher

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