This article has been created in order to explain what the FetLife redirect is and whether or not those redirects are dangerous to your computer.
FetLife is a well-known social network and dating portal that caters to people that are interested in exploring different kinks and fetishes. Numerous criminal groups have created fake FetLife redirects that impersonate the site. Falling victim to them can lead to various issues including malware delivery, identity theft and financial abuse.
FetLife Virus Redirect – How Can I Get Infected?
The FetLife redirect is a dangerous series of malicious sites and scripts that take advantage of the popularity of the legitimate site. At one time there may be different versions of it available on the Internet which are run by different hacking groups. The recipients and visitors can be tricked into clicking and interacting with them as they can take various forms.
Most of the redirects are hosted on similar sounding domain names that aim to confuse the recipients into thinking that they have accessed part of the original site. The elements can be any of the following:
- Fake Copies — The hackers can create malware copies of the main FetLife site which is hosted on a similar URL. This is a popular tactic as many web users can mistype the address and as a result visit the impostor site.
- Malware Links — Links to the fake site can be inserted in a variety of sites, social network profiles and other places where the users can access the page.
- Web Elements — The FetLife redirect pages can be embedded as links and interactive contents that when interacted with will lead to the page. They can take popular forms such as banners, pop-ups and in-page ads.
- Browser Hijackers — A very popular scenario is the creation of malicious extensions made for the most popular web browsers. They are commonly created under the disguise of a trusted developer. The samples are often uploaded to their respective repositories with elaborate descriptions, counterfeit user reviews and other ways that will manipulate the visitors.
Another approach is to embed the necessary redirect code into malware files which can take different forms. A common technique is the creation of a malware document which can be of all popular formats: spreadsheets, text files, databases and presentations. When they are opened a prompt will be spawned asking the victims to enable the macros. This will automatically launch a browser window opening the FetLife redirect.
An alternative technique is to create malware setup bundles of popular software which is often downloaded by end users. Common software includes web browsers, productivity software, creative suites and even computer games. The criminals can take the original files and modify them to include the virus code.
FetLife Virus Redirect – What Does it Do?
The FetLife redirect is designed to manipulate the victims into believing that they have accessed the legitimate FetLife page. By doing so they can present various types of pages that will request different types of information. Common data includes the following:
- Registration Information — The fake sites can make the users register for the fake site and request all the required information.
- Payment Card Information — The scam pages can request payment information which may include card information.
- Sexual Information — As the Fetlife redirect impersonates the fetish site it can request private sexual information.
The collected information can be used to blackmail or conduct other types of crimes. This can include financial abuse, identity theft and the selling of the private data to interested parties. The redirect pages can be used to deploy cryptocurrency miners or other types of malware — ransomware, Trojans and etc.
Remove FetLife Virus from Redirect and Stop Such In the Future
Scan your computer now, to see if it is virus free after experiencing FetLife redirects:
Spy Hunter scanner will only detect the threat. If you want the threat to be automatically removed, you need to purchase the full version of the anti-malware tool.Find Out More About SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool / How to Uninstall SpyHunter
Martin Beltov
Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove FetLife from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of FetLife from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove FetLife from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase FetLife from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall FetLife from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove FetLife from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate FetLife from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove FetLife from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove FetLife
Step 2: Uninstall FetLife and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by FetLife on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by FetLife there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of FetLife from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall FetLife and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove FetLife via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove FetLife files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as FetLife, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove FetLife from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase FetLife from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall FetLife from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove FetLife from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the FetLife will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate FetLife from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
