Update October 2019. What is the “Save Yourself” e-mail scam? What are the “Save Yourself” scam messages? How to stop “Save Yourself” e-mail scam? How to remove the “Save Yourself” e-mail scam from your computer thoroughly?
The “Save Yourself” e-mail is a part of series of scam messages, whose main goal is to convince victims that they have to pay 800 USD. The main extortion message used in the “Save Yourself” e-mail scam is to threaten victims that they must pay a hefty ransom in order to remove alleged evidence against them, such as videos and other private information. If you want to know how you have gotten the “Save Yourself” scam, then we recommend that you read this article thoroughly.
Threat Summary
| Name | Save Yourself |
| Type | Scam/Virus |
| Short Description | Dangerous blackmail scam, that may have been sent to you via e-mail as a result of malware or trackers that have obtained it. |
| Symptoms | E-mails coming from SaveYou@{random}.com e-mail addresses. |
| Distribution Method | Via massive e-mail spam. |
| Detection Tool |
See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware
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Malware Removal Tool
|
User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Save Yourself. |
Save Yourself Email Scam – Update August 2019
Our analysis shows that the scam is still being spread in the while. There are 3 main distribution methods that spread this scam and others of this type:
1. Your email was breached. It may be that your email address was part of a data breach, and there have been several pretty big breaches in the past few years. You can check your email address via Troy Hunt’s Have I Been Pwned website. If it turns out that your email has been compromised in a data breach, you should change its password. Use a unique password for each of your accounts, and forget about the dangerous habit of using one password (or a variation of the same password) for all your accounts.
2. Your email was harvested. Email harvesting can be done via different methods but the purpose is usually the same – to use collected data for spamming or sending bulk emails. There are special programs that automate the process of email harvesting. In most cases, a spam bot is used for searching email addresses in web pages. These are then added to a database and sold to spammers. Your email address was likely harvested and ended up on a spammers’ list.
3. Your PC was infected. This option should not be overlooked, especially if you have opened a suspicious email attachment in a phishing email, or clicked on an unknown link. If you have interacted with such a phishing message, your accounts may have been compromised, email accounts included. Your financial details may be at risk, as well. So it may be a good idea to scan your system for spyware or malware. Proceed to the end of this article for further instructions.
Save Yourself Email Scam – How Did I Get It and What Does It Do? Is the Save Yourself Email Real
The main way of propagation of the Save Yourself e-mail scam is likely done as a result of being spread via e-mail spam campaigns. Usually, what scammers do is they tend to send various e-mails to victims massively. How they got the list of victim e-mails, however, is a mystery yet to be solved. One possible scenario is that you may have given away your e-mail on a suspicious site, or the address may have been copied directly from your browser via cookies, used by adware or some other unwanted programs installed on your device.
Either way, when you receive it, the Save Yourself scam e-mail could begin to appear on your computer from e-mail addresses, called “SaveYou”. These are usually randomly generated by the scammers and appear like “SaveYou35@4295.com” and they may exist in many variants.
The main variant sends the following message to victims:
Hi, I know one of your passwords is: {SOME RANDOM PASSWORD} – but not only that!
Your computer was infected with my private malware, because your browser wasn’t updated / patched, in such case it’s enough to just visit some website where my iframe is placed to get automatically infected, if you want to find out more – Google: “Drive-by exploit”.
My malware gave me full access to all your accounts (see password above), full control over your computer and it also was possible to spy on you over your webcam.
I COLLECTED ALL YOUR PRIVATE DATA and I RECORDED YOU through your webcam, I must say – the result is some GOOD MATERIAL! :)
After that I removed my malware to not leave any traces and this email was sent from some hacked server. I can publish the videos of you and all your private data on the whole web, social networks, over email of all your contacts.
But you can stop me and only I can help you out in this situation. Mail-Client-ID: 73584424317358442431.
You can easily buy bitcoin here: www.paxful.com , www.coinbase.com , or check for bitcoin ATM near you, or Google for other exchanger.
You can send the bitcoin directly to my wallet, or create your own wallet first here: www.login.blockchain.com/en/#/signup/ , then receive and send to mine.
My bitcoin wallet is: 1D1nXbBdPmCpy9rPRdtaXjA5ftGzYPPw51 I give you 3 days time to pay.
In fact, e-mail scams of this type have been lurking across the web for quite some time. Other cases reported by our team are the so-called [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/this-is-my-final-warning-scam-remove/”] “This is my final warning”, [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/remove-programmer-cracked-email-scam/”] “I greet you I have bad news for you”, and [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/remove-programmer-cracked-email-scam/”] “I’m a programmer who cracked your email” email scams.
If you come across a [wplinkpreview url=”https://sensorstechforum.com/sextortion-scam-restore/”] sextortion scam that aims to blackmail you into transferring cryptocurrency to hackers’ wallets, do not open any links that are directly clickable in it. If you did, chances are that you may have been infected by malware already. In some dangerous cases, simply opening a suspicious e-mail could get you into infected. This is why, if you have come across the “Save Yourself” e-mail scam we strongly recommend that you read this article thoroughly.
How to Remove Save Yourself Scam Email from Your Computer
In order to check for any malware that may have infected you as a result of opening the “Save Yourself” email scam, we strongly recommend that you read the removal steps underneath. If you are unsure of a malware infection, then we strongly recommend that you scan your computer with professional anti-malware software. Such a tool will effectively detect and eliminate any actual threats allegedly compromising your computer.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
Follow Me:
- Windows
- Mac OS X
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
- Safari
- Internet Explorer
- Stop Push Pop-ups
How to Remove Save Yourself from Windows.
Step 1: Scan for Save Yourself with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Step 2: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode
Step 3: Uninstall Save Yourself and related software from Windows
Uninstall Steps for Windows 11
Uninstall Steps for Windows 10 and Older Versions
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 4: Clean Any registries, Created by Save Yourself on Your PC.
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 Save Yourself 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.
Video Removal Guide for Save Yourself (Windows).
Get rid of Save Yourself from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Save Yourself and remove related files and objects
Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to Save Yourself. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“-“) icon to hide it.
- 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 Save Yourself 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 Save Yourself files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Save Yourself, 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.
Video Removal Guide for Save Yourself (Mac)
Remove Save Yourself 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.
Erase Save Yourself 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.
Uninstall Save Yourself 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.
Remove Save Yourself 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 Save Yourself will be removed.
Eliminate Save Yourself 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.
Remove Push Notifications from Your Browsers
Turn Off Push Notifications from Google Chrome
To disable any Push Notices from Google Chrome browser, please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to Settings in Chrome.
Step 2: In Settings, select “Advanced Settings”:
Step 3: Click “Content Settings”:
Step 4: Open “Notifications”:
Step 5: Click the three dots and choose Block, Edit or Remove options:
Remove Push Notifications on Firefox
Step 1: Go to Firefox Options.
Step 2: Go to “Settings”, type “notifications” in the search bar and click "Settings":
Step 3: Click “Remove” on any site you wish notifications gone and click “Save Changes”
Stop Push Notifications on Opera
Step 1: In Opera, press ALT+P to go to Settings.
Step 2: In Setting search, type “Content” to go to Content Settings.
Step 3: Open Notifications:
Step 4: Do the same as you did with Google Chrome (explained below):
Eliminate Push Notifications on Safari
Step 1: Open Safari Preferences.
Step 2: Choose the domain from where you like push pop-ups gone and change to "Deny" from "Allow".
Save Yourself-FAQ
What Is Save Yourself?
The Save Yourself threat is adware or browser redirect virus.
It may slow your computer down significantly and display advertisements. The main idea is for your information to likely get stolen or more ads to appear on your device.
The creators of such unwanted apps work with pay-per-click schemes to get your computer to visit risky or different types of websites that may generate them funds. This is why they do not even care what types of websites show up on the ads. This makes their unwanted software indirectly risky for your OS.
What Are the Symptoms of Save Yourself?
There are several symptoms to look for when this particular threat and also unwanted apps in general are active:
Symptom #1: Your computer may become slow and have poor performance in general.
Symptom #2: You have toolbars, add-ons or extensions on your web browsers that you don't remember adding.
Symptom #3: You see all types of ads, like ad-supported search results, pop-ups and redirects to randomly appear.
Symptom #4: You see installed apps on your Mac running automatically and you do not remember installing them.
Symptom #5: You see suspicious processes running in your Task Manager.
If you see one or more of those symptoms, then security experts recommend that you check your computer for viruses.
What Types of Unwanted Programs Are There?
According to most malware researchers and cyber-security experts, the threats that can currently affect your device can be rogue antivirus software, adware, browser hijackers, clickers, fake optimizers and any forms of PUPs.
What to Do If I Have a "virus" like Save Yourself?
With few simple actions. First and foremost, it is imperative that you follow these steps:
Step 1: Find a safe computer and connect it to another network, not the one that your Mac was infected in.
Step 2: Change all of your passwords, starting from your email passwords.
Step 3: Enable two-factor authentication for protection of your important accounts.
Step 4: Call your bank to change your credit card details (secret code, etc.) if you have saved your credit card for online shopping or have done online activities with your card.
Step 5: Make sure to call your ISP (Internet provider or carrier) and ask them to change your IP address.
Step 6: Change your Wi-Fi password.
Step 7: (Optional): Make sure to scan all of the devices connected to your network for viruses and repeat these steps for them if they are affected.
Step 8: Install anti-malware software with real-time protection on every device you have.
Step 9: Try not to download software from sites you know nothing about and stay away from low-reputation websites in general.
If you follow these recommendations, your network and all devices will become significantly more secure against any threats or information invasive software and be virus free and protected in the future too.
How Does Save Yourself Work?
Once installed, Save Yourself can collect data using trackers. This data is about your web browsing habits, such as the websites you visit and the search terms you use. It is then used to target you with ads or to sell your information to third parties.
Save Yourself can also download other malicious software onto your computer, such as viruses and spyware, which can be used to steal your personal information and show risky ads, that may redirect to virus sites or scams.
Is Save Yourself Malware?
The truth is that PUPs (adware, browser hijackers) are not viruses, but may be just as dangerous since they may show you and redirect you to malware websites and scam pages.
Many security experts classify potentially unwanted programs as malware. This is because of the unwanted effects that PUPs can cause, such as displaying intrusive ads and collecting user data without the user’s knowledge or consent.
About the Save Yourself Research
The content we publish on SensorsTechForum.com, this Save Yourself how-to removal guide included, is the outcome of extensive research, hard work and our team’s devotion to help you remove the specific, adware-related problem, and restore your browser and computer system.
How did we conduct the research on Save Yourself?
Please note that our research is based on independent investigation. We are in contact with independent security researchers, thanks to which we receive daily updates on the latest malware, adware, and browser hijacker definitions.
Furthermore, the research behind the Save Yourself threat is backed with VirusTotal.
To better understand this online threat, please refer to the following articles which provide knowledgeable details.
I recently received this email scam and thanks to this article I was aware that it was malware. But maybe in the future there will be more versions of this scam sent. How I protect my company?
Hello, i did pay the BitCoins. How do I get them back?
Oh my God! I got this and it showed me an old password I used?! I changed my current password – anything else should i do? Reading the article i understand its not truth but the password was real! I don’t wanna pay or have some media with me exposed – what to do??
Hello, i have the Save Yourself scam e-mail. How to stop the emails? Is there a virus from the Save Yourself email and if so how to remove Save Yourself virus?