Remove TrustCop (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on October 5, 2009 @ 09:24 PM · Views: 4,565

 

What this infection does:

TrustCop is a rogue anti-spyware program that is installed and promoted through the use of Trojans. When the Trojan is installed it will download and install TrustCop on your computer and configure it to start automatically. When the Trojan is first run it will also create numerous files on your computer using random filenames. These files will then be detected by TrustCop as infections when it scans your computer, but if you try to remove them with TrustCop it will say that you need to purchase the program first. In reality, these files are all harmless and cannot harm your computer in any way. They are just being created and detected to attempt to trick you into thinking your computer is infected.

 

TrustCop screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 7 images you can view.

 

The same Trojan that installed TrustCop will also display fake security alerts on your computer. These alerts will display messages stating that your computer is under attack, has malware running, or is sending personal data over the Internet. The Trojan will also display a fake Windows Security Center that looks like the legitimate one in every way except that it suggests that you purchase TrustCop to protect yourself. Just like the fake scan results, these alerts are all false and are only being displayed to trick you into thinking your computer has a security problem.

Without a doubt, TrustCop was created for one reason; to make you think your infected so that you purchase the program. Under no circumstances should you actually purchase this program, and if you have, we suggest that you contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. Last, but not least, to remove TrustCop and any related malware please use the guide below.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View TrustCop files.
View TrustCop Registry Information.

 

Entries for this program found in the Add or Remove Programs control panel:

TrustCop

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [TrustCop] C:\Program Files\TrustCop Software\TrustCop\TrustCop.exe -min
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ca85mxcq.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ca85mxcq.exe

 

Guide Updates:

10/05/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for TrustCop 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 TrustCop 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 TrustCop 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 TrustCop 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

 

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Associated TrustCop Files:

c:\Program Files\TrustCop Software
c:\Program Files\TrustCop Software\TrustCop
c:\Program Files\TrustCop Software\TrustCop\TrustCop.exe
c:\Program Files\TrustCop Software\TrustCop\uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\10134spamb9zb95.dll
c:\WINDOWS\1015zpyware2930.dll
c:\WINDOWS\10753tzo5931.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\288995acktool3z1.dll
c:\WINDOWS\system32\28935virus54z.ocx
c:\WINDOWS\system32\28a6d9wnlzader1957.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\TrustCop.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\TrustCop
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\TrustCop\1 TrustCop.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\TrustCop\2 Homepage.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\TrustCop\3 Uninstall.lnk
%Temp%\ca85mxcq.exe

File Location Notes:

%Temp% refers to the Windows Temp folder. By default, this is C:\Windows\Temp for Windows 95/98/ME, C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\<Current User>\LOCAL SETTINGS\Temp for Windows 2000/XP, and C:\Users\<Current User>\AppData\Local\Temp for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

 

Associated TrustCop Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\TrustCop
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\TrustCop
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\TrustCop
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "ca85mxcq.exe"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "TrustCop"