Searching Google gets good results, but when I click on a valid website in results, a spurious website takes control of the browser and presents its own results (often Infomash.org). If I "back" and click again, the proper site appears - what is the fix?
This seems to happen often, but not every single time. I tried deleting a lot of cookies, but it still happens. Often, this Infomash site seems to remember other searches I have done, days earlier, and combines the latest search with historical searches.
Somehow, Infomash seems to sniff Google search terms, steals them, and delivers its own results. Weirdly, some of its search results seem to be somewhat valid, but their searches are very weak versus Google.
All Replies (1)
Do a malware check with a few malware scan programs.
You need to use all programs because each detects different malware.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of the database before doing a scan.
- http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
- http://www.superantispyware.com/ - SuperAntispyware
- http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Spybot Search & Destroy
- http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php - Ad-Aware Free
- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Windows Defender: Home Page
See also "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked and What to do when searches take you to the wrong search website