What is Skype virus? Computer security specialists has determined that the Skype virus is a malware and phishing scams that target the Skype messenger users. This virus will not delete or infect your files, but its actions will cause some problems with your personal computer. This is because, it will infect your system, get full access to your Skype software and can be used to modify its settings. Of course, it did not ask you for permission and do it secretly as possible.
Aside from sending spam and phishing links, the Skype virus may give a remote malicious hacker access to your PC system, record your keystrokes, collect your Internet surfing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, web browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and pages visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or confidential data theft.
The Skype virus usually gets installed alongside free applications, codecs and shareware. The risk of this is especially high for the various free applications downloaded from the Internet. The authors of these apps are hoping that users will use the quick install mode, that is simply to click the Next button, without paying attention to the information on the screen and don’t carefully considering every step of the installation procedure. Thus, the Skype virus can infiltrate your PC system without your knowledge. Therefore, it’s very important to read all the information that tells the application during install, including the ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’. Use only the Manual, Custom or Advanced installation mode. This mode will help you to disable all optional and unwanted software and components.
Do not panic because we’ve got the solution. Here’s a tutorial on how to remove Skype virus. We suggest to follow the instructions added to this post below. The guidance was designed by experienced security experts who discovered a way to get rid of the annoying malware out of the computer.
How to remove Skype virus
There are several steps to removing the Skype virus which can use your computer for click fraud, because it installs itself so deeply into Microsoft Windows. You need to uninstall all suspicious and unknown applications, then remove malicious extensions from the Chrome, MS Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer and other web-browsers you’ve installed. Finally, you need to reset your browser settings to get rid of any changes the trojan has made, and then check your PC system with Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) or Hitman Pro to ensure the trojan is fully removed. It will take a while.
To remove Skype virus, execute the following steps:
How to remove Skype virus without any software
Most common variants of Skype virus may be deleted without any antivirus programs. The manual virus removal is guide that will teach you how to delete the Skype virus without any malware removal tools.
Delete suspicious programs through the Control Panel of your personal computer
Some of potentially unwanted software and hijacker infections can be removed using the Add/Remove programs utility which is located in the Windows Control Panel. So, if you are using any version of Windows and you have noticed an unwanted application, then first try to remove it through Add/Remove programs.
Make sure you have closed Skype messenger, all internet browsers and other applications. Press CTRL, ALT, DEL keys together to open the Microsoft Windows Task Manager.
Click on the “Processes” tab, look for something dubious that is the Skype virus then right-click it and select “End Task” or “End Process” option. Most often, a malware masks itself to avoid detection by imitating legitimate MS Windows processes. A process is particularly suspicious: it is taking up a lot of memory (despite the fact that you closed all of your applications), its name is not familiar to you (if you’re in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for its name in Google, Yahoo or Bing).
Next, delete any unknown and suspicious software from your Control panel.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Now, click the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Choose “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.
Look around the entire list of apps installed on your personal computer. Most likely, one of them is the Skype virus. Select the suspicious program or the program that name is not familiar to you and delete it.
Windows Vista, 7
From the “Start” menu in MS Windows, select “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, select “Uninstall a program”.
Choose the questionable or any unknown applications, then click “Uninstall/Change” button to delete this undesired program from your personal computer.
Windows XP
Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
Select an undesired program, then press “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If the Skype virus sends spam automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all the tasks that have been created by unknown apps.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard together. This displays a dialog box that titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as displayed below.
Task scheduler
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please choose the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your personal computer. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the ‘ad-supported’ software, then this task also should be removed.
Having defined the task that you want to remove, then press on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as displayed below.
Delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks which have been created by the Skype virus. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.
How to automatically get rid of Skype virus
Many antivirus companies have designed applications that help detect Skype virus and thereby remove malware from Windows OS. Below is a a few of the free programs you may want to use. Your PC can have lots of potentially unwanted software, ad-supported software and browser hijackers installed at the same time, so we recommend, if any unwanted or harmful application returns after rebooting the computer, then run your computer into Safe Mode and run the anti-malware utility again.
Remove Skype virus with Zemana Anti-malware
We recommend you to run the Zemana Anti-malware that are completely clean your PC of Skype virus. Moreover, the utility will help you to remove PUPs, malicious software, toolbars and browser hijackers that your machine can be infected too.
Now you can install and run Zemana Anti-Malware to remove Skype malware from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP) by following the steps below:
Click the following link to download Zemana setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your computer. Save it to your Desktop.
164033 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Launch the setup file after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to install this utility on your computer.
During install you can change some settings, but we suggest you don’t make any changes to default settings.
When setup is finished, this malicious software removal utility will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as shown in the figure below.
Now click the “Scan” button to begin scanning your PC for the Skype virus and other malware. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the Zemana program is scanning, you may see how many objects it has identified as threat.
After Zemana Free has completed scanning, the results are displayed in the scan report. Once you’ve selected what you want to delete from your PC system click “Next” button.
The Zemana will delete Skype virus and add items to the Quarantine. After that process is complete, you can be prompted to restart your computer to make the change take effect.
Scan and clean your PC of Skype virus with HitmanPro
HitmanPro is a free removal utility that can be downloaded and use to delete Skype virus, browser hijackers, malicious software, potentially unwanted apps, toolbars and other threats from your computer. You can run this utility to search for threats even if you have an antivirus or any other security program.
- Download Hitman Pro from the following link.
- After the downloading process is done, double click the Hitman Pro icon. Once this tool is launched, click “Next” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the Skype virus and other malicious software. This task can take some time, so please be patient. When a malware, ad supported software or PUPs are found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.
- When Hitman Pro has finished scanning, a list of all items detected is produced. Review the results once the utility has done the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply press “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.
How to automatically remove Skype virus with Malwarebytes
We advise using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to search for malware and thereby remove Skype virus from Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows XP. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically check and detect all threats exist on the PC system.
Download MalwareBytes on your Microsoft Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.
326387 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once downloading is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes Anti Malware will try to update itself and when this task is done, click the “Scan Now” button for checking your personal computer for the Skype malware. A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your personal computer and the speed of your system. While the MalwareBytes tool is checking, you can see number of objects it has identified as being infected by malware. In order to remove all threats, simply click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes AntiMalware is a free program that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malware removal utility, we recommend you to read and follow the step by step guidance or the video guide below.
How to stay safe online
If you surf the World Wide Web, you can’t avoid malvertising. But you can protect your web browser against it. Download and use an ad-blocking application. AdGuard is an ad blocker which can filter out a large amount of of the malvertising, stoping dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.
- Download AdGuard from the link below.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the setup is done, click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop advertisements, as well as other harmful or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.
To sum up
Now your machine should be free of the Skype virus that can give a remote malicious hacker access to your computer. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popups and undesired harmful web-pages) and Zemana Free (to periodically scan your system for new viruss and other malicious software). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove Skype virus from the Windows 10 (8, 7, XP), then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
