Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) – How to Fix

What is “Hackers Are Watching You!” POP-UP Scam (Mac)?

Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) is a deceptive alert that falsely informs users that their Apple device(s) has been hacked. If you frequent questionable websites, you may often come across this and similar pop-up alerts. While it may appear alarming to some users, the alert is completely bogus. This and similar alerts are frequently used to trick users into installing unnecessary apps and providing their personal/sensitive/financial information. While the alerts will claim to be offering security apps, do not trust them to provide you with a safe download. You’d end up downloading something potentially malicious, if not outright malware. If you encounter this pop-up, simply close the window and continue browsing normally.

This fake virus alert claims that “Your Apple iPhone connection has been hacked and someone is watching on you!”. If you do not act within the next two minutes, hackers are allegedly going to reveal your identity and send your browsing history and front camera photos to people in your contacts. The fake alert also includes a 2-minute countdown, which is essentially a scare tactic. When users are faced with a time constraint, they are more likely to act quickly and not overthink the situation. The purpose of this bogus alert is to persuade users to click on the “Protect your connection” button. The pop-up would redirect you to questionable websites where you’d likely be asked to provide your personal and even financial information.

If it’s not obvious already, this iPhone alert is complete nonsense. First and foremost, the fact that it appears in your browser indicates that the alert is not genuine. Malware cannot be detected by browsers, whether on computers or smartphones. So in the future, you can disregard any virus alerts that appear in your browser. Second, the contents of the alert make no sense whatsoever. Furthermore, on iPhones, Apple does not display security alerts like this. Additionally, sentences like “Your Apple iPhone connection has been hacked and someone is watching on you!” are not really logical. These claims are merely a scare tactic used by scammers to alarm users enough to further interact with the alert.

There are many different variations of these scams so it’s not certain what would happen if you interacted with the pop-up and clicked the “Protect your connection” button. You would likely be redirected to highly questionable websites that either ask you to install something or want your personal information/login credentials. For example, you may be prompted to buy a subscription to some app. Falling for this type of scam means your payment card information would be sent to the cybercriminals operating this scam.

You may also encounter similar warnings with phone numbers displayed on them. Alerts with phone numbers are usually referred to as tech-support scams. These scams typically aim to get victims to call fake tech support numbers so that scammers can steal hundreds of dollars from them.

What causes redirects to these scams

You visiting high-risk websites is what likely triggers these redirects. Certain websites are considered to be high-risk because of the ads they host and redirects they trigger. Sites with pornographic or pirated content, for instance, are particularly high-risk. When visiting such websites, clicking on anything can trigger a redirect. On iPhones, there’s not much you can do to prevent these pop-ups so you need to be very careful when browsing sites you know to be high-risk. Though most of those ads and redirects are not dangerous as long as you don’t interact with them.

On your iPhone, you can modify some settings to block these specific pop-ups, though the feature is, unfortunately, not perfect.

Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) removal

These pop-ups are not dangerous as long as you don’t interact with them, so if you ever encounter the Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP while browsing on your iPhone, you can just close the window. To some extent, you can stop these pop-ups by enabling the “Block pop-ups” feature in your iPhone’s Settings. Unfortunately, this will not completely block the pop-ups, though it will reduce them. But not visiting high-risk websites is the best way to prevent unwanted pop-ups and redirects.

On your iPhone, open Settings, then Safari, and toggle on the Block Pop-ups feature. In the same Safari settings, scroll down to Advanced, click Website Data, and click Remove All Website Data.

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Quick Menu

Step 1. Uninstall Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) and related programs.

• Windows 8
• Windows 7
• Windows XP
• Mac OS

Remove Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Windows 8

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel choose Programs and Features and select to Uninstall a software.

Uninstall Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Windows 7

Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features → Uninstall a program.

Delete Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Windows XP

Click Start → Settings → Control Panel. Locate and click → Add or Remove Programs.

Remove Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Mac OS X

Click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications. Select applications folder and look for Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) or any other suspicious software. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash, then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

Step 2. Delete Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from your browsers

• Internet Explorer
• Chrome
• Firefox
• Safari

Terminate the unwanted extensions from Internet Explorer

1. Tap the Gear icon and go to Manage Add-ons.
2. Pick Toolbars and Extensions and eliminate all suspicious entries (other than Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Oracle or Adobe)
3. Leave the window.

Change Internet Explorer homepage if it was changed by virus:

1. Tap the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of your browser and click Internet Options.
2. In General Tab remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Press Apply to save changes.

Reset your browser

1. Click the Gear icon and move to Internet Options.
2. Open the Advanced tab and press Reset.
3. Choose Delete personal settings and pick Reset one more time.
4. Tap Close and leave your browser.
5. If you were unable to reset your browsers, employ a reputable anti-malware and scan your entire computer with it.

Erase Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Google Chrome

1. Access menu (top right corner of the window) and pick Settings.
2. Choose Extensions.
3. Eliminate the suspicious extensions from the list by clicking the Trash bin next to them.
4. If you are unsure which extensions to remove, you can disable them temporarily.

Reset Google Chrome homepage and default search engine if it was hijacker by virus

1. Press on menu icon and click Settings.
2. Look for the “Open a specific page” or “Set Pages” under “On start up” option and click on Set pages.
3. In another window remove malicious search sites and enter the one that you want to use as your homepage.
4. Under the Search section choose Manage Search engines. When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search websites. You should leave only Google or your preferred search name.
   

Reset your browser

1. If the browser still does not work the way you prefer, you can reset its settings.
2. Open menu and navigate to Settings.
3. Press Reset button at the end of the page.
4. Tap Reset button one more time in the confirmation box.
5. If you cannot reset the settings, purchase a legitimate anti-malware and scan your PC.

Remove Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Mozilla Firefox

1. In the top right corner of the screen, press menu and choose Add-ons (or tap Ctrl+Shift+A simultaneously).
2. Move to Extensions and Add-ons list and uninstall all suspicious and unknown entries.

Change Mozilla Firefox homepage if it was changed by virus:

1. Tap on the menu (top right corner), choose Options.
2. On General tab delete malicious URL and enter preferable website or click Restore to default.
3. Press OK to save these changes.

Reset your browser

1. Open the menu and tap Help button.
2. Select Troubleshooting Information.
3. Press Refresh Firefox.
4. In the confirmation box, click Refresh Firefox once more.
5. If you are unable to reset Mozilla Firefox, scan your entire computer with a trustworthy anti-malware.

Uninstall Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) from Safari (Mac OS X)

1. Access the menu.
2. Pick Preferences.
3. Go to the Extensions Tab.
4. Tap the Uninstall button next to the undesirable Hackers Are Watching You! POP-UP Scam (Mac) and get rid of all the other unknown entries as well. If you are unsure whether the extension is reliable or not, simply uncheck the Enable box in order to disable it temporarily.
5. Restart Safari.

Reset your browser

1. Tap the menu icon and choose Reset Safari.
2. Pick the options which you want to reset (often all of them are preselected) and press Reset.
3. If you cannot reset the browser, scan your whole PC with an authentic malware removal software.