Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings - How to remove

“Your personal data has been stolen!” is a phrase used by some fake security alerts. They are designed to look like real notifications by Apple’s operating systems (iOS and macOS). In reality, they’re spam by dishonest advertisers who are trying to push certain apps. The “Your personal data has been stolen!” warnings are meant to trick you into thinking that it’s Apple recommending that you install the app that’s being advertised. In reality, these alerts should be ignored and the apps they promote should be avoided.

About the “Your personal data has been stolen!” scam:

Classification	Scam, trojan.
The goal of the scam	The fake security warnings impersonate Apple and pressure people into installing an app.
What causes the “Your personal data has been stolen!” alerts	Ads online, on websites that show low quality ads, adware infections (malicious apps and browser extensions).
How to avoid the “Your personal data has been stolen!” scam	Remove malicious and unwanted apps and protect your device from malware with anti-malware apps (Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, others).

What are the “Your personal data has been stolen!” alerts?

Deceptive advertisements

Fake security alerts that target Apple users are unfortunately pretty common. There are fake alerts that say Your System Is Infected With 3 Viruses!, phishing emails that claim that your Apple ID has been locked, and various Warning Alerts that try to convince you that your computer is infected with a virus.

This one, the “Your personal data has been stolen!” alert, is made to look like a system notification. It’s just a random webpage, but it’s designed to look like it’s coming from Apple.

(1) SYSTEM NOTIFICATION

Your personal data has been stolen!

Hit OK to protect your iPhone.

The warning says that a third party has taken the data on your device, your photos and messages. It also says that to stop the theft, you must download and install an app. There’s a timer ticking down, probably meant to cause people more stress.

If you click the OK button, the “Your personal data has been stolen!” page might opens the App Store, a page for the app that’s being promoted. Or it might open a page on a site like Highsecureus.com.

Ads and adware infections

The “Your personal data has been stolen!” scam is a twisted sort of advertising campaign. The fake alerts are used to scare the people who see them into installing whatever app is being advertised. It’s likely that the apps that use such a dishonest advertising method are also dishonest. It’s also likely that they are meant to make money quickly (by showing you ads, signing you up for a subscription, etc.).

The “Your personal data has been stolen!” alerts are ads, but they’re not normal ads and no mainstream website shows them.

You might get these warnings as notifications on your device, as unwanted entries in your calendar, or encounter them while browsing certain websites that tend to show low quality ads (for instance, pirating websites).

How to avoid the “Your personal data has been stolen!” scam messages

It’s possible that adware apps infect your phone or computer, change your browser and network settings, and show malicious ads on your screen. But it could be much simpler than that.

The “Your personal data has been stolen!” alerts are webpages and they often show up as pop-up ads on other websites. You can block unwanted ads and malicious websites with ad blockers and anti-malware apps. Choose an ad blocker that seems trustworthy to you – one that’s reputable and has a community around it.

To remove adware, other malicious software, and to block dangerous sites, use anti-malware apps, such as Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes. They can detect dangerous and unwanted apps and help you protect your device.

In addition, follow Apple’s advice on how to protect your Mac from threats: Protect your Mac from malware.

If you do encounter the “Your personal data has been stolen!” alert, don’t follow its instructions. Just close it.

And if you installed an app recommended by one of these “Your personal data has been stolen!” alerts, remove it. You might also want to reset your passwords – just in case.

If, besides the deceptive ads, you experience other symptoms (your search results looking strange, unexpected redirects in your address bar), then review your browser settings and extensions. Adware infections very often take the form of browser add-ons.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Review your browser settings

How to remove Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopHow to remove Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings on the extensions list and click on the recycle bin icon next to it.
• Click on 'Chrome' button at the top left corner. Select 'Preferences' on a drop-down menu box.
• Find 'Search' options on Settings tab. If your search engine is changed, click 'Manage Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• On the same page find 'Show home button' checkbox and change your homepage.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• On the 'Preferences' menu window, scroll down to the bottom and find 'Reset settings' button. Click it.
• Confirm your selection and click 'Reset' on the following window.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program. Top

How To remove Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings from Firefox on Mac OS:

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press cmd+Shift+A on your keyboard).
• Go through Extensions list, remove everything Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
• Enter “about:preferences” in URL bar and hit enter.
• Open Search settings tab.
• If your search engine is changed, click 'Default Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Preferences-> General. Enter a preferable URL to the home page field.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake "Your Personal Data Has Been Stolen!" Warnings, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.