How to remove “ZEUS Virus Detected” pop-up scam from Mac

What is “ZEUS Virus Detected” pop-up

ZEUS Virus Detected is a forged virus-alert message designed for Mac users that can appear in a browser as a result of suspicious redirects. Usually, these kinds of redirects are happening inadvertently when clicking on ads, however, sometimes they can be seen due to Potentially Unwanted Applications installed on your computer. The following message claims that your computer is infected with a malvertising piece that gathers your personal data like passwords, IP-addresses, geolocations and so on. Although, this is a type of scam that tricks users into calling the extortionists via the attached phone number to get paid instructions on how to get rid of the virus. More likely that frauds will offer to buy fake licensed software that will rectify the detected issues. Remember that this ostensibly official customer service is fake and has nothing to do with Apple meaning that the detected threat is fabricated and cannot be taken seriously. Moreover, your computer might be already virus-free and does not require any assistance. Of course, if you constantly see such messages when opening the browser, then this can be a result of PUAs sneaking on your computer and gathering the data to generate these kinds of redirects. We have prepared a full guide on how to remove the “ZEUS Virus Detected” pop-up from your computer.

How “ZEUS Virus Detected” pop-up infected your computer

As mentioned, these kinds of messages can be seen either due to inadvertent clicks on the web or some unwanted apps installed on your system. Potentially Unwanted Applications can be distributed via suspicious downloads, fake push-notification pop-ups and most importantly – bundling. Bundling means promoting additional software alongside different installation kits like repacks, for example. These offers are usually hidden in “Advanced” or “Custom” sections that are frequently overlooked. This means that people tend to skip unchecking the boxes for the appendant offers. This nonchalant behavior reflects in the installation of Unwanted Applications like adware without users’ consent. Subsequently, the adware will alter the browser settings for displaying various false messages like “ZEUS Virus Detected” pop-up. We strongly recommend removing this annoying pop-up from your computer by going through the instructions attached below.

Remove “ZEUS Virus Detected” pop-up manually for free

Remove suspicious applications from MacOS

To start removing “ZEUS Virus Detected” 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 “ZEUS Virus Detected”

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 “ZEUS Virus Detected” 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: