Adobe Flash Player has a virus?

[jeannem99212315]

Running OS 10.9.5, updated Adobe Flash Player version 21 two weeks ago and now I'm getting popups regarding "Mac Adware Cleaner" or all different kinds of products. Went to their website and it is based in INDIA. When I call them I'm told that I need to give them access to my computer to remove. No way am I going to do that. Used a Mac for 20 years and this is the first time that I have had this problem. Any one help or have this problem?

[_maria_]

Hi,

Did you download the installer from adobe.com (or macromedia.com)?  If so, the installer would not have installed any adware cleaner as that's not something that is bundled with the Mac installer.  If you downloaded it from a different site it's possible you used a malicious installer that included Mac Adware Cleaner.  A Google search for "Mac Adware Cleaner" returns numerous results, including several for cleaning your system.

If you did download the installer from a non-adobe/macromedia.com URL and still have the URL from where you downloaded it, please private message it to me and I'll forward it to our fraud department.

--

Maria

[jeannem99212315]

How do I “private message” you?

Jeanne

[_maria_]

Mouse-over my screen name to view a snapshot of my profile, then click on the Message button

[jeannem99212315]

I sent you a private message and haven't heard from you?

[_maria_]

Hi,

I apologize for not getting back to you.  I'm not at all familiar with the software advertised at the link you send and was looking into it before replying.  I've not been able to determine if it's legitimate software or not, but I've forwarded it to the fraud team to investigate.

If your system is still behaving odd and showing signs of being infected with something you'll want to scan it with something like malwarebytes or some other reputable anti-malware software.

--

Maria

[jeannem99212315]

Hi Maria,

Thank you for getting back to me! I’m still getting alerts indicating that I need to compress, scan, or clean my Mac. I’ve searched high and low in my computer and can’t find anything that would be this cause.

I’ll check with the Mac Guys, my local fabulous independent store and see what they recommend.

Please let me know if you guys figure out anything.

Jeanne

[drmarc4709]

I am having the same issue. Periodically I get a window announcing my Adobe Flash Player is out of date and needs to be updated. Every time I attempt to comply with this update request, shortly thereafter I get a red flashing window with an annoying horn audio with a written and voiced message that I have a virus on my MacBook Pro which is sending secure information from my laptop and putting all at risk. This window and audio is hard to cancel, but with persistence, I can close it, only to have it pop up again at some future time. CleanMyMac 3 and my virus scanner usually gets rid of it until I try next to comply with the request to update my "out of date" Adobe Flash Player.

So I went to my Flash Player settings and set it to update automatically without asking me. I have no idea if this will fix anything, or whether I should uninstall Flash Player and reinstall from Adobe.com.

Your thoughts??

Thank you.

[ridhij42083560]

Hi,

We recommend you to uninstall Flash Player(available on Uninstall Flash Player for Windows  page) and reinstall the Flash Player. Please download the Flash Player from genuine adobe page (Adobe Flash Player Install for all versions ).

Could you please private message the url from where you downloaded the previous Flash Player so that we can look into it as the official Flash Player does not give any audio messages as stated by you.

Thanks!

[tomt68379127]

I receive a popup on my screen about once every two weeks saying there is an update that I need to download and install. It has McAfee bloatware attached with the option of opting out of the bloatware. I always opt out as I use Avast. This time Avast caught this bug trying to  sneak in get3.adobe.com.

[_maria_]

InstallFlashPlayer.exe doesn't appear to be a file name for an official Flash Player installers.  Seems like Avast did the right thing by blocking this file.

You can double-check by right-clicking on the file name, selecting Properties > Digital Signature.  If it's not signed by Adobe, it's not official.

[tomt68379127]

It came from Adobe's server. They may need to check it out. I will not install anything from them.

[_maria_]

I'll double-check with the appropriate team.