Remove Malware Catcher 2009, Removal Instructions

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on May 8, 2009 @ 03:17 PM · Views: 16,709

 

What this infection does:

Malware Catcher 2009 is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family of rogue software products as Virus Shield 2009 and Virus Sweeper. This program is advertised through the use of Trojans and fake online scanners that display alerts stating that your computer is infected and then prompts you to download and install Malware Catcher 2009 onto your computer. When the program is installed on your computer it will be configured to start automatically. The installation process will also create a variety of fake infection files that will be detected when Malware Catcher 2009 scans your computer. These fake infection files, though, are harmless and cannot harm your computer in any way. They are only being used to scare you into thinking you are infected so that you purchase the program. The files that were created on our test computer are:

%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\exec.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\fix.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\std.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\tjd.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\tjd.tmp

While the program is running you will also randomly be shown security warnings and alerts on your computer. These alerts will state that Trojans and other malicious programs were found and then suggest that you purchase Malware Catcher 2009 in order to protect your computer. Just like the fake infection files, these alerts are just another scam trying to convince you that your computer is infected.

 

Malware Catcher 2009
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.

 

Instead of purchasing the program, please follow the steps in the guide below in order to remove this program for free. If you have already purchased this product then we suggest that you contact your credit card company and file a claim stating that this software is malware.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Malware Catcher 2009 files.
View Malware Catcher 2009 Registry Information.

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

Note: The folder where MCatcher.exe is located has a random name

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Malware Catcher 2009] "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\7c69f0c\MCatcher.exe" /s /d

 

Guide Updates:

05/08/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

---

Automated Removal Instructions for Malware Catcher 2009 using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:

 

1. Print out these instructions as we will need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
   
   
2. Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop:
   
   Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link (Download page will open in a new window)
   
   


3. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
   
   
4. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
   
   
5. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button.
   
   
6. MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Malware Catcher 2009 related files.
   
   
8. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the MalwareCatcher 2009 removal process.
   
   
10. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
    
    
11. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
    
    
12. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
    
    
13. You can now exit the MBAM program.
    

Your computer should now be free of the MalwareCatcher 2009 program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future.

If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:

Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help

 

---

 

Associated Malware Catcher 2009 Files:

Note: Some of these files and folders have random names

%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\exec.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\fix.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\std.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\tjd.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\tjd.tmp
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Malware Catcher 2009.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Malware Catcher 2009.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\7c69f0c
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\7c69f0c\MCatcher.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\7c69f0c\SystemFeed
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\7c69f0c\SystemFeed\vd952342.bd
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SystemFeed
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SystemFeed\mctch.ini
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Malware Catcher 2009
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Malware Catcher 2009\Instructions.ini
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Malware Catcher 2009.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Malware Catcher 2009.lnk

File Location Notes:

%UserProfile% refers to the current user's profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\<Current User> for Windows 2000/XP, C:\Users\<Current User> for Windows Vista/7, and c:\winnt\profiles\<Current User> for Windows NT.

 

Associated Malware Catcher 2009 Windows Registry Information:

Note: Some of these registry values are random numbers

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3F2BBC05-40DF-11D2-9455-00104BC936FF}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MCatcher.DocHostUIHandler
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "[xSP_2:2092962508]"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "6989019803"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Malware Catcher 2009"