Remove “Norton – This Mac Is Infected With Viruses” pop-up

The “Norton – This Mac Is Infected With Viruses” pop-up is a fake virus alert that claims your Mac is infected with malware that tracks your keystrokes and monitors your online activities. These types of fake alerts are generally hosted on questionable websites that users get redirected to when browsing ad-heavy sites without an adblocker. If you encounter this alert, you can ignore it completely as all of its contents are fake. Do not interact with it or download anything it offers.

 

 

If you find yourself redirected to a site that promotes this scam, you’ll encounter two pop-ups disguised as Norton security notifications claiming that your Mac is infected with multiple serious threats. The first pop-up falsely states that your device has viruses that are supposedly tracking your keystrokes and monitoring your online activities. The second pop-up displays a fake virus scan with alarming results. Both pop-ups urge you to remove these supposed viruses by renewing your Norton anti-virus subscription. However, you shouldn’t take these alerts seriously as they are entirely fake—there’s no actual infection on your system. And if you use Norton anti-virus, you should only renew your subscription via the official website, never via questionable alerts on shady sites.

It’s important to stress that any virus alerts that appear in your browser are fake. Your browser will not show legitimate virus warnings because it cannot detect malware. Thus, you should only trust your installed anti-virus program to provide accurate information about infections on your computer. Additionally, you should never download programs through ads. Instead, take the time to thoroughly research software before installing it and only download from reputable sources, such as official websites.

The pop-up that appears when users get redirected to the site:

IMMEDIATE ACTION IS REQUIRED.

This Mac is infected with viruses that track your keystrokes and monitor your online activity, putting your banking details and login credentials at risk.

Please renew your Norton antivirus subscription to keep this Mac protected.

[Remove Viruses Now]

Why are you shown fake virus alerts?

There are several reasons why users might end up on websites displaying fake virus alerts. Often, this happens when users visit ad-heavy sites, especially those that contain pornographic or pirated content. These types of websites frequently expose users to dubious ads and redirects, and a click on anything can trigger a redirect. Thankfully, using a reliable adblocker program can effectively prevent these annoying ads and redirects from appearing.

Less commonly, adware might be responsible for these redirects. While adware is considered a minor infection, it can be quite bothersome. Typically, adware is bundled with free software in what’s known as software bundling. The way this method works is infections like adware are added to free programs as additional offers. Though these offers are meant to be optional, they are set to install automatically unless users specifically deselect them. However, the offers are difficult to notice because they are usually buried in settings users rarely use.

To avoid unwanted installations, you need to choose the correct settings when installing free programs. When given the option, opt for Advanced (Custom) settings instead of Default. Default settings install all bundled offers automatically, while Advanced settings will display all offers, allowing you to deselect any that you don’t want. You need to uncheck all offers, as legitimate programs typically do not use this method of installation. In fact, the ones that do use it are often flagged as potential threats by anti-virus software. So, to keep your computer free of junk, always deselect those offers. It’s much easier to uncheck a couple of boxes when installing programs than it is to remove fully installed infections.

“Norton – This Mac Is Infected With Viruses” pop-up scam removal

If you accidentally got redirected to this scam while visiting high-risk websites, you simply need to close the window and install a reliable adblocker program. If the redirects become frequent or if you see an increase in ads, it’s a good idea to scan your Mac with anti-virus software to check for any adware infection. If you’ve accidentally installed the program promoted by these fake virus warnings, it’s important to remove it. Downloading anything from ads could result in serious infections so you should only use official sources for downloads.