r/MacOS • u/No_Amount3679 • 1d ago
Bug Does my Mac have a virus?
In the first picture that keeps popping up on my Mac. I don’t click the scan button because I don’t want the virus to take over my computer fully. If it is a virus. How do I get rid of that? I downloaded bit medic on the App Store and it’s not able to read that it’s something on here.
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u/P1nCush10n 1d ago
Not trying to be harsh, but is English your first language? I ask because it clearly wasn’t for whomever created that pop-up. That first part, in the blue banner, is an immediate red-flag.
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u/No_Amount3679 23h ago
yeah the banner itself is an obvious sign but I can't seem to get the pop up for that tab to go away on my safari.
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u/P1nCush10n 23h ago
Check safari>settings>websites>notifications and remove anything there, and uncheck the “allow websites to ask for permission…” then check under extensions for Anything you don’t recognize.
Notifications are the new front line of malware pop-up’s now, since they don’t need to install an actual payload they just need to social-engineer their way into you clicking ‘accept’ on a convincing enough request, then let the browser do all the work from there.
This may not be the fix, but it’s where I would start. Good-luck.
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u/excuse_me_25 23h ago
If you are running McAfee on your Mac, you may switch to Windows. You don’t deserve to be a macOS user.
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u/GoofyGills 16" MacBook Pro | M5 Pro | 48GB/1TB 23h ago
I mean, Windows doesn’t need it either anymore lol
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u/godeling 1d ago
It looks like it’s just the website you’re visiting, not an actual macOS dialog window
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u/MarrkDaviid 1d ago
99.8% likely a scam advertisement. How does it keep popping up on your Mac? The most common trick these scammers use is browser notifications.
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u/No_Amount3679 23h ago
YES!!! they keep popping up as im on safari and in efforts to get it to go away I clicked on it but I didnt click any further so I know they don't have anything yet. how do I get rid of the browser notifications?
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u/Xe4ro Mac Mini 23h ago edited 23h ago
It's a pop-up designed to scare you. Some website that you visited had this and no, it's not a virus, it could lead to malware, adware, phishing, an unrelated scam, getting you to submit some info they can use like emails etc or maybe selling you shitty software.
If this thing here scared you into thinking it might be real I'd recommend learning a bit about what malware is these days, how it can look, how it gets to your system and how to not fall for it. You need awareness in this day and age. We see way too many posts of people posting commands into their terminal and unknowingly download & execute info stealers.
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u/katmndoo 23h ago
No. Likely you have enabled notifications in your browser.
Disable browser notifications and always click “do not allow”.
There are very few websites where you legitimately need notifications, and I suspect the number is actually zero.
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u/No_Amount3679 23h ago
Thank you! Does that get rid of them sending the browser notifications completely or just stops me from seeing them?
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u/Accomplished_Owl7557 1d ago
No. You do not have a virus - real macOS dialog windows don't look like that and they are centered within your screen not within the window. Just... close the tab. There is no virus. It's probably just going to have you download a "cleaner" app, or an antivirus which you don't need.
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u/Basic-Brick6827 23h ago
After reading the comments, Im shocked how little Mac people understand about computers. its not just a cliché... Good lord.
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u/Forward-Switch-2304 23h ago
You have been visited by the McAfee scam so you either close that or make a fee
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u/poopmagic MacBook Pro 23h ago
I’m going to go with “maybe” here...
If you happen to be on some sketchy website and this pops up, it’s almost certainly a scam.
BUT if you’re on more established and/or trusted websites (like reddit.com or google.com) and it still pops up, you might have a browser hijacker.
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u/Away-Huckleberry9967 23h ago
Don't go on the internet without ad-blockers!
I watch scam-baiter videos sometimes and people call these fake help centers when they get these pop-ups in the ten-thousands. I have _never_ seen one of these in person on my own computers.
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u/Kitchen_Might_3390 1d ago
idk, something like that happened to me, and when i used a scanner (free version), it said my computer is safe
so far my computer has been fine
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u/Basic-Brick6827 23h ago
A website pop up claiming viruses cannot be anything than fake. However, the "cleaner" software you installed was probably closer to a virus. Never install such bs software.
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u/Kitchen_Might_3390 23h ago
i mean it doesn't look like malwarebites, the one i have it, would be a virus
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u/techazn86 23h ago
It's a bad website that has gone into the web browsing history on your PC. Erase your web history to the point before this popup happened. If it's 24 hours or earlier, do delete the past 24 hours of history. If more then do 7 days. Just be advised that you might need to relogin to whatever you were logged into.
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u/Basic-Brick6827 23h ago
huh? history is just a log, erasing it doesnt change anything to the code running on a computer.
Maybe you meant an extension was installed? Just like OP, you dont understand much about computers.
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u/TheBuilderGUYtmk 1d ago
That is a scam… close the tab you have no malware