How to remove “You need to update your browser to view the content” scam

“You need to update your browser to view the content” is a fake message that tells people to allegedly update their Chrome browsers

“You need to update your browser to view the content” is a scam that one might encounter accidentally on Google Chrome or any other browser. According to the message, visitors need to download and install an update for the app in order to view the content. It is not clear what type of content is there to view, and that should be the first red flag when dealing with this scam.

The message can come from various fake websites that impersonate the official Chrome page. The well-known logo, formatting, font, and other attributes are used in order to make people believe that the message actually comes from Google. In fact, if not paying close attention, it is easy to get confused and download the fake update.

It goes without saying that “You need to update your browser to view the content” is fake and should be avoided at all costs. If the promoted “update” is downloaded and installed, users could get infected with all sorts of malware, including Trojans, backdoors, ransomware, or keyloggers.

If you have encountered the scam, please take your time to check more about it its operation below and then employ the instructions in order to ensure that there is no adware or other malicious software running in the background of your system (potentially unwanted programs are known to cause users to encounter scams and phishing^[1] material more often).

How scammers trick users into downloading malicious software

There are almost two billion websites^[2] on the world wide web, so it is not surprising that not all of them are there to be informative or useful. In fact, there are plenty of crooks who are willing to make use of the anonymity that the internet provides and do malicious deeds for personal benefits – usually, it's the financial benefits that are the reason for all sorts of nasty online.

“You need to update your browser to view the content” is a very typical scam in terms of how it operates and what its goal is. It all starts with creating a website online that hosts the fake message (hxxps:google-app-update.com is one of the websites that is used by cybercriminals), and then means such as adware or insecure advertisement networks are used to spread it around the web.

As soon as users are rerouted to the malicious page, they are immediately shown the message which asks users to download and install the browser update. The site itself is a mere copy of the official Chrome download page, although it does not provide the same functionality – the whole contents are simply used as an image-link and would initiate a download of an ISO file as soon as a mouse-click is made.

The file, under the name of Updt.iso, would be downloaded automatically. Once uploaded to Virus Total, the results were quite alarming, as it was recognized and detected under the following names:

• Win32:DropperX-gen [Drp]
• Trojan.TR/Dropper.MSIL.Gen
• HEUR:Trojan-Downloader.MSIL.PsDownload.gen
• A Variant Of MSIL/TrojanDownloader.Agent.JW

According to these names, it seems to be a typical dropper Trojan which, once installed, could automatically download additional malicious payloads. Please never mount the file, as you could infect your device with malware. The detection rate is relatively low because of the file format – once extracted, it would be detected by most security tools.

Recovery

It is important to mention that just because you have encountered a scam website, it does not automatically mean that your computer is infected with something. However, there are a few things that you should take into consideration:

1. Whether you interacted with the promoted links in any way (clicked on links, downloaded and installed software, entered your passwords or other personal information, etc.)
2. If you encounter online scams, malicious ads, and similar suspicious content while browsing the web, there is likely to be a potentially unwanted or malicious program involved.

Thus, below we provide steps that should make sure that your system is infection-free. Some potentially unwanted applications might not be detected by the security software (although this is rare), so we provide manual steps as well.

1. Uninstall PUPs

There are two places where potentially unwanted applications could reside: they could be installed on the system level as a program or as an extension within the web browsers. Therefore, it is worth checking both of these places – let's start with apps installed on the 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

On a Mac, removing adware might require a few more steps besides moving the unwanted app into Trash. Adware is known for inserting additional files that might cause the infection to resurface, so we recommend removing them too.

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.

Next, you should definitely check what extensions you have on your system installed. You can find them by clicking the “Extensions” button on the right side of the URL bar or by accessing browser settings as follows:

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.

2. Scan with anti-malware

After you find unwanted programs installed on your browser or system and remove them, you should also ensure that more stealthy malware is also removed. Cybercriminals use all sorts of obfuscation^[3] techniques in order to increase the persistence of malicious programs; if not removed in time, there could be other malware downloaded and installed on the system in the background.

3. Check your browsers

The final step is to make sure that cookies and other tracking items are eliminated from your browser. You can either follow the steps below or employ FortectIntego a PC maintenance tool that could also fix any system damage related to malware activities.

Google 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.

Note: if you are using other browsers, check the bottom section of this post.

How you end up on malicious websites

Many users are quite oblivious to the fact that shady websites are dangerous to visit. While it is indeed true that the overall security of most websites has been going up over the years, there are still plenty of places for malicious activities to take place. To be more precise, pirated program distributors, torrents sites, and similar places are some of the most dangerous ones on the internet, as users themselves download malware executables while believing that it is a pirated app.

Once extracted, such files immediately begin the infection process, and, in most cases, everything happens stealthily without users knowing anything about it. That is one of the most common ways of getting yourself infected with ransomware or similar devastating malware.

Another danger about such sites is the redirect tendencies. High-risk websites are loaded with fake Download buttons and booby-trapped links, which, once clicked, might take users to the “You need to update your browser to view the content” or similar scam websites. To conclude, stay away from shady websites altogether, as it might end badly otherwise.

Another tip is to always download software from official sources; third-party freeware distributors commonly bundle software, which results in users installing optional components without realizing it. Always pick Advanced/Custom settings instead of Recommended ones and watch out for pre-ticked checkboxes, fine print, and similar things crooks might abuse in order to make people install additional apps without their permission.

Most importantly, you should ensure that your device is protected with powerful anti-malware such as SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes – not only can security software find and remove malware but also prevent incoming attacks.