How to remove “Apple Defender Security Center” pop-up scam

What is “Apple Defender Security Center” pop-up scam

Apple Defender Security Center is a technical support scam that uses social engineering methods to trick users into believing their devices are infected or hacked, and their personal information is at risk. These fake pop-ups are designed to swindle money from unsuspecting users, steal personal data, and spread malware. The scam operates by displaying fake pop-up messages on the user’s device, claiming that it is infected with malware or has other security issues. These pop-ups may appear when the device is infected with adware or malware, or when the user visits a less reputable site that displays malicious ads. The pop-ups may also include a fake system scan, displaying a list of “detected” threats (e.g., Trojans, adware, unwanted programs). The scam urges users to call a provided phone number, claiming to be “Apple Support”. However, this number is not associated with Apple and is part of the scam.

Signs of a Fake Tech Support Pop-up

Fake tech support pop-ups are designed to trick users into believing that their devices have issues that need immediate attention. Here are some common signs of a fake tech support pop-up:

• Pop-up messages with error or warning messages: These messages often claim that your device is infected with malware or has other security issues that need to be fixed urgently.
• Phone numbers provided in the pop-up: Legitimate error messages from tech companies like Microsoft or Apple will never include a phone number for you to call. Scammers provide phone numbers to trick you into contacting them and giving them access to your device or personal information.
• Requests for remote access to your computer: Scammers may ask you to give them remote access to your device, which allows them to access all the information stored on it and any connected networks.
• Claims of urgent or immediate action needed: Fake tech support pop-ups often use scare tactics, urging you to take immediate action to resolve the issue. Legitimate tech support messages will not create a sense of urgency or pressure you into taking immediate action.

Remove “Apple Defender Security Center” pop-up manually for free

Remove suspicious applications from MacOS

To start removing “Apple Defender Security Center” pop-up you should uninstall unwanted programs from Applications in MacOS. Malware can be present by different names. It should uninstall correctly, however, we recommend you to use CleanMyMac to clean leftover items after uninstalling. Here are instructions for Mac.

Remove suspicious applications from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. Find unknown or suspicious applications.
3. Drag icons of suspicious applications from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Cannot uninstall Captchasafe.top in MacOS

If you can’t uninstall suspicious apps from MacOS using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag suspicious applications from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with suspicious applications.
4. Click Delete button.

Disable push notifications from suspicious websites in browsers in MacOS

Remove suspicious websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Safari

1. Open Safari, and in the top menu click Safari, choose Preferences.
2. In the Preferences window, click on Websites tab.
3. On the left side, choose Notifications. You will see the list of websites and their settings for showing notifications.
4. Find suspicious ones in the list and click Remove button.

Remove suspicious websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Google Chrome

1. Go to Google Chrome settings, by clicking 3-dots icon in the top-right corner and choosing Settings.
2. On the left side choose Privacy and security menu.
3. Under opened Privacy and security tab, choose Site Settings.
4. Scroll down to Permissions section and click on Notifications (with the bell icon).
5. Go to the bottom list of sites named Allowed to send notifications.
6. Find suspicious ones in the list and click 3-dots icon near it. Click Remove button to delete the website permission.

Remove suspicious websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Mozilla Firefox

1. Go to Mozilla Firefox options, by clicking 3-bars icon in the top-right corner and choosing Settings.
2. On the left panel choose Privacy & Security menu.
3. Scroll down to Permissions section.
4. Near Notifications click Settings… button.
5. Find suspicious ones in the list and click Remove Website to remove it.
6. Click Save Changes button to confirm the action.

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Captchasafe.top from Control Panel often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has a browser extension and it may still be active in Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Captchasafe.top related extension from your browsers manually.

Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find suspicious extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find suspicious or unwanted extension.
4. Click the Remove button to remove them.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Find suspicious or unwanted extension.
4. Click three-dots icon near it and choose Remove in the menu.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

How to block ads and pop-ups, like “Apple Defender Security Center”

AdGuard main window

AdGuard general settings

AdGuard browser assistant

Malicious push-notifications, in most cases, are caused by a program installed on your PC or an add-on installed in browsers. However, sometimes it can appear on a clean computer when visiting a malicious website, using an advertising script. Also, apps that generate “Apple Defender Security Center” pop-up are themselves installed from other pop-ups. To protect your PC and browsers from phishing websites, pop-up ads, banners, malicious scripts it is recommended to use AdGuard. Download free trial here: