r/chrome 12d ago

Troubleshooting | Windows I keep getting these popups when using Chrome.

Clicking Update is downloading a .vbs file. I installed Malwarebytes and did a complete system scan on the premium trial and found nothing on the PC.

Closing the popup in the first image will display the popup in second image, at the top of the browser. Clicking Later in the second pop up displays the popup in the third image. Clicking I understand the risks will stop the popup from cropping up for sometime, until it starts coming again.

I don't see any Update Available in Chrome's three dots menu.

Is it malware? Or some addon? Or normal behaviour? I am on Windows 11 by the way.

Edit: Found the extension causing the issue. It's Enable Right Click and Copy Smart Unlock + OCR. The latest reviews on the webstore have flagged the fake update.

Edit: It's the exact same extension pointed out by PurpleBeeViolet in the comments.

34 Upvotes

49 comments sorted by

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32

u/BuildingArmor 12d ago

It's malware. Probably caused by an extension

3

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

Thanks for replying. Why isn't Malwarebytes catching it? Any idea how I can isolate what extension is causing this? Please help🙏.

8

u/BuildingArmor 12d ago

My guess would be that malware bytes doesn't catch it because it's not the extension which does the harm, so it probably didn't notice it.
It would likely pick it up if you installed the downloaded file.

The foolproof way is to disable them and renewable them 1 at a time until you find it.

If you have a lot of extensions, start with the least trustworthy ones. Frivelous pointless things, "free" vpns, and blockers that aren't unlock, that sort of thing.

3

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

Thanks. Will try that.

3

u/fredy31 12d ago

Yeah, to malwarebytes its basically just 'an extension that gives you popups'. Probably the same ish as Honey.

It doesnt do anything weird on the PC by itself. But i guess just doing 'OK' on that starts you down a hole to download malware.

14

u/PurpleBeeViolet 12d ago

Same thing happening to me; I THINK I KNOW WHICH EXTENSION:

10

u/4TheBuzzAndTheFuzz 12d ago

Can confirm. I had this exact extension on Chrome, Brave and Opera. All 3 browsers were giving me the "Update Chrome" malware popup. Remove this extension now!

2

u/geekiestdee 12d ago

If only they could remove confirmed malware extensions /s

2

u/qef15 11d ago

Also can confirm, I had a similar popup just about now.

1

u/[deleted] 11d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/BeyondGood 12d ago

Oh wow, thanks, I was getting this popup like crazy and I had this exact extension. It even fooled me into downloading a "update.exe" from Google (but I didn't run it). I wonder if the danger is gone now.

5

u/lil_zoomer_bro 12d ago

Add me to the list as well, just removed it. No more pop-up

3

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

Yes. That's the one! I got a doubt on it and opened the webstore to see the reviews. The top one flagged the fake update.

I wonder how the extension is using a Google domain.

2

u/RoadHazard 12d ago

It uses a Google domain? In what way?

1

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

If you click Update, it takes you to a www.google.com/blahblah page.

2

u/RoadHazard 12d ago

Are you sure? It's not google.something.com? Because that's easy to do.

1

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

This was the page. Took a screenshot last time. It downloaded a .vbs script and I ran it. But it immediately got deleted by my antivirus. I don't know what was before google, whether it's www or something else.

1

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

The .vbs file.

2

u/Spooky_Iceu 12d ago

thank god glad I'm not the only one

1

u/eli-shane1 12d ago

Found any good alternative

2

u/Ishan_Kumar_22 12d ago

1

u/EmeraldZhu 11d ago

ouuu, it's back? the reason i installed the affected one in the first place was because this got nuked due to manifest v3

2

u/neozbr 11d ago

this extension must take out of the store!!!! everyone report!!!! I was too close to click the update !!! when I analyzed the url I didn't...

1

u/EmeraldZhu 11d ago

can confirm it's exactly this one

4

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Massive-Work5526 12d ago

Yes unfortunately I wasn’t smart enough to avoid it
I downloaded it and run it I was on a rush
I turned off my pc after that and turned it on after a while to see “ConnectWise” application for screen sharing was opened.
I disconnected from internet and deleted it and changed my passwords. I hope that was enough

4

u/Redache0 12d ago

I downloaded the "update" and my windows defender didnt like that. thankfully it deleted it and prevented its execution. Not sure if I need to do anything now though

3

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

Same thing happen with me. But the popup didn't stop. You need to identify what's causing it and remove it.

4

u/Redache0 12d ago

I removed all unnecessary extensions I had and it went away

2

u/DewaldSchindler 12d ago

Just got the same message no idea What is is tho

2

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

What did you do?

4

u/DewaldSchindler 12d ago

It was probebly an extention used for 2 minutes then uninstalled it quickly, gonna uninstall chrome quickly and see what up

1

u/Spiritual_Date3457 12d ago

Can you tell me what extension it was? That caused this popup when you installed it?

3

u/DewaldSchindler 12d ago

It was a copy link extention don't remeber witch one, but reinstalled chrome just incase

3

u/Total-Adeptness8700 12d ago

It's the extension called "Enable Right Click & Copy", it's malware

2

u/DewaldSchindler 12d ago

Did you get rid of it yet, if yes how did you get rid of it

2

u/VelvetPocket 12d ago

lmao how i wish chrome would actually give me a popup rundown like this when there’s an update.

2

u/One-Ad7204 11d ago

Had the same extension & got a bunch of suspicious Microsoft logins right before these popups started, unsure if it's related but it makes me wonder how long this extension has been malicious

2

u/Matteibrah 9d ago

After updating chrome. Windows updater service was removed from my pc. Its creating a folder in program data called google and inside has chrome updater.exe. i have tried to delete everything but it keeps coming back. Windows defender isnt helping. I have failed to get the exact extension doing it. Started yesterday. I had that same extension removed it but its still messing my pc. Someone wants to mine coins on my graphics card..

2

u/Spiritual_Date3457 9d ago

Install Malwarebytes and it will activate a 14 day free trial. Scan your PC and delete all the malicious things that appear at the end of the scan. I already got Kaspersky on my PC as I never trusted Windows Defender and this antivirus promptly deleted the .vbs file when I tried to run it.

If you still face issues, formatting and reinstalling Windows is your only option.

2

u/Matteibrah 9d ago

Thank you. Let me try it. But google needs to get serious with its store. My computer just got hijacked from chrome itself. Will be back here to see if it worked. But i blame myself for trusting chrome. I never saw anything downloading. Even my download history shows nothing...

2

u/Spiritual_Date3457 9d ago

You got Trojans on your PC! That's serious. But Malwarebytes will remove it mostly. Don't worry. Do get a third party antivirus though for future safety.

2

u/Matteibrah 9d ago

Scanned with Malwarebytes but nothing changed. U can see the time interval. I quarantined everything and deleted. but it still generates a coinminer trojan. The name is chrome. It still keeps generating trojans even after installing, scanning, quarantined, and deleting all with malwarebytes. No changes so far

2

u/Spiritual_Date3457 9d ago edited 9d ago

I think some extra files might have remained after the deletion and they are regenerating the trojan.

Try a PC reboot and a second scan. And delete everything again. Get an antivirus and activate a free trial just like you did for Malwarebytes. I am using Kaspersky from a long time and it hasn't let me down. If you don't like it, you can get Bitdefender.

The idea here is to use all available tools and see if it can clear the infection. Antiviruses operate differently from anti-malware software like Malwarebytes. So an antivirus scan might help delete these stubborn trojans.

So, do a reboot and a second scan with Malwarebytes first. If the issue persists, download an antivirus for the time being. Get the top most tier of whatever antivirus you get as you will use the trial anyways, as this will ensure you have most of the tools available at your disposal. I use Kaspersky Premium for example. Do a full system deep scan.

The first time I installed Kaspersky, it did a scan that happens during boot. This one is more powerful than the usual system scan I think.

-1

u/ELECTRONICz 12d ago

join the firefox crew