topic Re: Spotify Windows App has Malware/Adware in Desktop (Windows)

Spotify Windows App has Malware/Adware

noobcake — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 10:26:01 GMT

Plan

Premium

Device

Desktop

Operating System

Windows 10 64Bit

My Question or Issue

I've been using Spotify app for a while now, with no issues, two days ago, I loaded up the Spotify Web Player to see if it was easier to add/delete playlists etc. Ever since then, I have been getting Adware Chrome browser tabs opening. I run pretty much everything under the sun in regards to malware/virus scanners etc. Malwarebytes/AVG/CCleaner/ADW/Spybot and nothing comes up.

I then had to trawl through the internet, which I then found many posts stating back in 2016 that the Spotify Web Player contained malware that caused **bleep** browser tabs to your default browser. Another user mentioned once he uninstalled Spotify, he never again experienced any **bleep** pop ups. I tested his theory and it seems to be true. After uninstalling, I went the whole day without a pop up, I re-installed Spotify directly from the website download, low and behold, 2 **bleep** pop ups came roughly 5 minutes after installing. Again, uninstalling and went 8 hours without a pop up, tested once more this morning to install and again, instantly a pop up. I've scanned for viruses/malware, but nothing can be found.
MalwareBytes instantly blocks the **bleep** website from actually loading, but it still pops up.

Again, this only happens when Spotify is installed and only happened after I visited Spotify Web Player 2 days ago.

Re: Spotify Windows App has Malware/Adware

noobcake — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 10:27:26 GMT

Wow, the word "sp-am" gets bleeped in case anyone things I'm cursing in my message! lol

Re: Spotify Windows App has Malware/Adware

Sebasty — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 14:13:10 GMT

Hey @noobcake

That sounds really weird!

I haven't had any issues with the web player anywhere (on browsers with addons, and browsers without any addons).

Just to make sure, check your browser's installed addons and remove anything fishy. Weird add-ons are often left undetected by malware scanners.

I also suggest reinstalling Spotify cleanly by uninstalling it and deleting Spotify folders from %appdata%.

That's how to:

1. Close Spotify and uninstall it.
2. Go to %AppData% in Windows Explorer, and delete any Spotify folders you find in Local and Roaming folders.
3. Restart your computer.
4. Install Spotify.

Let me know how it goes 🙂

Re: Spotify Windows App has Malware/Adware

noobcake — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 14:26:14 GMT

Hey Seb,

Unfortunately I've tried everything suggested, but still with no luck 😞
Really can't figure it out. It's 100% something that latches onto Spotify App itself, as it only appears when Spotify is installed.

I'll leave Spotify off for a few days and see what happens.. Will definitely keep this thread updated with my findings.

Thanks,