Search.pa-cmf.com

Posted by Max Lehmann on March 2, 2016

What is Search.pa-cmf.com?

It seems that there is no end to the browser hijacker business and, this time, Search.pa-cmf.com may hit your computer. There is probably no day without a “new” or cloned hijacker emerging on the web. Many computer users may not even realize when their home page changes and browser hijackers get replaced. Some of these hijackers are simple clones of another or very close to popular and reputable search engines in resemblance. Anyhow, you should be aware that this browser hijacker may present you with potentially unreliable web content, which means that by clicking on such content you may be taken to unsafe websites and be exposed to online scams of all sorts. Since this hijacker may enter your computer in a free software bundle, if you find this search engine in your browsers, you may find other unpleasant “surprises” as well in the form of malware infections. If you want to protect your PC, you should remove Search.pa-cmf.com as soon as possible. Please continue reading our article to learn more. test

Where does Search.pa-cmf.com come from?

Just like other similar browser hijackers, including Search.yourmapscenter.com, Search.yourpackagesnow.com, and Search.youremailnow.com, this infection has no official website either. The only way for this hijacker to be distributed widely enough on the Internet is via free software bundles. As you may know, bundling is usually used to promote free third-party tools and software. However, schemers tend to use this method to deliver several malware programs in one package to unsuspecting computer users’ machines. Since they know exactly that hundreds of thousands of users look for free products, including software, music, and movies, every day, the best way to spread such bundles is through questionable or downright fake P2P websites. Practically, any suspicious website that has remarkably many third-party ads, such as banners and pop-up ads can be the source of such a threat. These are mainly unreliable shareware, torrent, dating, and pornographic sites.

You may think that you would never visit such sites. But let us point out that you may land on one simply by clicking on a search result while looking for a free tool. When you end up on an unfamiliar website, it is not too difficult to click on the wrong button or link and end up with a malicious package on your computer. It is also important to mention that you may still be able to opt out of the installation of the whole bundle if you are careful with each step of the installation wizard. All you need to do is untick the provided checkboxes because most commonly these are ticked by default to make sure that all components get installed if you overlook this step. If you are not sure how this browser hijacker may have infiltrated your system, we advise you to find and run a reliable malware scanner after removing Search.pa-cmf.com.

How does Search.pa-cmf.com work?

This browser hijacker is not different from any other usual hijackers. It was designed and created to generate web traffic to certain affiliated websites. This is how it can produce revenue, of course. Therefore, you may find yourself on a manipulated search results page if you try to use this unreliable search engine. According to our researchers, this is a completely useless and redundant search engine since it acts as a mere mediator; all your searches will be rerouted to an altered Yahoo page. That is why this hijacker is rather misleading; because you would not question the reliability of Yahoo most probably. But let us remind you that you are redirected to that search results page from this questionable search engine. It is possible that this hijacker collects information about you regarding your online habits in order to be able to show you targeted search results that include customized ads and links. Unfortunately, these may be risky to click on because they may take you to unsafe websites. If you do not want to experience more infections or other online scams, you should remove Search.pa-cmf.com right now.

How to delete Search.pa-cmf.com

It seems that this hijacker does not have a working uninstaller that could be run through Control Panel. Therefore, we recommend that you reset all your browsers to make any changes this hijacker has made go away. We have included a guide below in case you are not familiar with the necessary steps. Also, please keep in mind that you should not leave any other malware infections on your computer if you want to restore order and security. Therefore, we suggest that you download and install a trustworthy malware remover. A decent security tool not only will detect and eliminate all existing malware threats, but it will also protect your PC from infections. That is what we would call peace of mind when it comes to PC security.