Do you know what Search.fc-cmf.com is?
Are you familiar with the interface of Search.fc-cmf.com? Our malware research team surely is because it is identical to the interfaces of Search.searchlttrn.com, Search.yourmapscenter.com, and a ton of other suspicious search tools. We classify all of them as browser hijackers because they can modify your browsers very seamlessly. Now, they should not corrupt your web browsers illegally, and you are likely to give the permission, but you might be tricked. Why did you choose to replace your usual homepage and default search provider tools with a browser hijacker? Were you forced to do that as you were installing other programs? Was the installer of the hijacker drowned in other offers and you simply overlooked it? Whatever the case might be, you have to learn all of the reasons for removing Search.fc-cmf.com from your browsers. This report was created to introduce you to these reasons. If you want to move straight to deleting the hijacker, you can check the instructions below.
Did Search.fc-cmf.com change your regular homepage? That is how this hijacker represents itself in most cases, but you should also check the default search provider to check if it was not affected as well. The interface of this search tool does not raise many questions. At the top, you have a few easy-access links that promote different online gaming websites. The middle is dedicated to a search dialog box with the same banner that we have seen a hundred times before. Just like all other clones, the hijacker does not produce original search results. Instead, it redirects to search.yahoo.com (Yahoo Search), and the results can be adjusted to represent sponsored links that the company might be paid to advertise. If you want to browse the web efficiently, the additional ads might be disruptive, but the biggest problem is that they could be unreliable and misleading. As you might already know, malicious advertisers often exploit browser hijackers to introduce unsuspecting users to malicious links and bogus offers. This is one of the reasons why you should consider deleting Search.fc-cmf.com.
Search.fc-cmf.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
One of the biggest risks you face when using Search.fc-cmf.com is the leaking of personal information. As stated in the Privacy Policy statement, personal information can be collected by recording search data and search queries. If this information includes personally-identifiable data, you might be at risk because the creator of the hijacker admits to sharing information with undisclosed third parties. Needless to say, we cannot trust undisclosed parties because we do not know their intentions! The creator of Search.fc-cmf.com could work with legitimate advertisers, but it could also work with malware distributors and unpredictable advertisements. This is what you need to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to remove the hijacker from your web browsers.
There is a great possibility that you have downloaded Search.fc-cmf.com along with malicious infections. We do not know which infections you might have attracted, but we are sure that you can find out using a legitimate malware scanner. When you can identify all threat, you can figure out if you can erase them manually or if you need the help of an automated malware removal tool. If complicated, dangerous, and time-sensitive threats are found, it is best to trust an anti-malware tool to have your computer cleaned automatically. If you realize that the threats discovered are pretty simple, you can use the manual removal guides found on our website. When it comes to deleting Search.fc-cmf.com, you can follow the instructions below. Trust us, the process is not as complicated and scary as it might appear to be.
Remove Search.fc-cmf.com
Mozilla Firefox
- Launch Explorer (tap Win+E keys) and enter %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ into the bar at the top.
- Open the file called prefs.js (you can right-click it and choose to open it with Notepad).
- In the user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Search.fc-cmf.com"); string replace the hijacker’s URL with the desired URL and save the file before closing it.
Internet Explorer
- Launch RUN (tap Win+R keys) and enter regedit.exe to access Registry Editor.
- Navigate to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
- Double-click the value named Start Page to open it.
- Replace the hijacker’s URL with the preferred URL and click OK.
- Navigate to HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}.
- Open a these values and repeat step 4 with every single one of them:
- FaviconURL
- FaviconURLFallback
- TopResultURL
- URL
Google Chrome
- Launch Explorer (tap Win+E keys) and enter %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\ (or %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\) into the bar at the top.
- Open the Preferences file (right-click it and choose Notepad).
- Replace the hijacker’s URL with the preferred URL and save the file before closing it.
- Repeat step 3 on Secure Preferences and Web Data files.
In non-techie terms:
Whether Search.fc-cmf.com has corrupted your browsers or you installed it yourself, you need to think about removing this unreliable search tool. First of all, it is not useful as it redirects your search queries. Second, it can expose you to potentially unreliable and malicious content via the sponsored ads shown to you. Third, this hijacker could collect and leak personally-identifiable information. These are the reasons to delete the hijacker from your browsers, and we advise implementing anti-malware software, especially if other threats have slithered into your PC as well. If you want to take care of things yourself, go ahead and follow the instructions above to erase this hijacker from your browser.