I wrote this article to help you remove PackageTracer. This PackageTracer removal guide works for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

PackageTracer is a tool which provides tracking services, as its name suggests. The utility is available as a browser extension. PackageTracer can track orders delivered by multiple courier firms from different countries. The program is free to use. You can acquire it directly from its official website, packagetracer.com. To set the record straight, courier firms have their own tracking services. Third party applications are not given access to their databases for security reasons. This makes tools like PackageTracer questionable. According to security experts, the extension is not safe to use. Analyzing its behavior, they have categorized it as adware.

PackageTracer displays advertisements which promote shopping deals. The shady tool shows bargain offers for various kinds of goods. This includes clothes, accessories, technological devices, furniture, decorations, gardening equipment, sports gear, games, toys and many others. The adware does not list product offerings for your convenience. The advertisements it generates lead to sponsored websites. The owners of PackageTracer make proceeds by supporting third party platforms. They use a method called the pay-per-click system. This is a payment agreement under which many online advertisers operate. The proprietors of PackageTracer get paid a certain amount each time a user clicks on an ad.

The adware generates ads in different formats. This encompasses pop-ups, pop-unders, in-text links, coupon boxes, freebies, floating, interstitial, comparison, transitional, inline and contextual ads. The windows get decorated with bright color schemes, cursive fonts, flash animations and other special effects in order to look more appealing. As good as the proposed deals may be, keep in mind that PackageTracer is a tool which provides tracking services. Finding shopping offers is not part of its listed functions. If you find that a given program conducts tasks which are not accounted for in its description, you should have it removed. Unauthorized activity is a security red flag.

The problem with the advertisements is that their sources are not disclosed or accounted for. Any given ad could contain a redirect to a malicious website. You should steer clear of them. Even if you do, you will still be in danger. Apart from exposing users to potentially dangerous websites, PackageTracer poses a threat through its own activity. The furtive tool is set to monitor your browsing sessions and collect data on you. The information the adware can obtain includes your browsing history, tracking cookies, keystrokes, IP address, geographic location, area code, email account, telephone number, demographic details, system specifications, user names and passwords. The owners of PackageTracer have issued a disclaimer of warranty and a limitation of liability statement. This relieves the company, Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc., from responsibility for potential security problems.

Although PackageTracer has an official website, it also uses unofficial distribution patterns. This is necessary because the rogue program does not have a good reputation. The predominant propagation vector is bundling. The adware hitches a ride with another application, like a pirated program or a freeware tool. Unlicensed software is often used as a host for malware. The download client will offer you to install PackageTracer together with the program you have chosen to add to your system. The bonus tool will not run its own setup wizard. Rather, it will be listed in the terms and conditions of the host. If you do not take the time to read them and accept the default settings, you will allow the shady program into your computer.

The other dark pattern PackageTracer uses to gain entry into people’s devices is spam emails. The adware gets merged with attachments, like text documents, images, zipped folders and compressed archives. The sender behind the fake message will state that the attached file is a notification on an important matter. In most cases, spammers write on behalf of a certain entity which may or may not exist. To check whether the organization is legitimate, look for information about it. If the entity is familiar to you, do not be quick to trust the letter. A spam email can be written using a template. This would make it resemble a genuine notification. To check whether a given message is legitimate, visit the official website of the organization it is stated to be from.

PackageTracer Removal

Before starting the real removal process, you must reboot in Safe Mode. If you know how to do this, skip the instructions below and proceed to Step 2. If you do not know how to do it, here is how to reboot in Safe mode:

For Windows 98, XP, Millenium and 7:
Reboot your computer. When the first screen of information appears, start repeatedly pressing F8 key. Then choose Safe Mode With Networking from the options.

For Windows 8/8.1
Click the Start button, next click Control Panel —> System and Security —> Administrative Tools —> System Configuration.‌

Check the Safe Boot option and click OK. Click Restart when asked.
For Windows 10
Open the Start menu and click or tap on the Power button.

While keeping the Shift key pressed, click or tap on Restart.

Please, follow the steps precisely to remove PackageTracer from the browser:

Remove From Mozilla Firefox:

Open Firefox, click on top-right corner , click Add-ons, hit Extensions next.

Look for suspicious or unknown extensions, remove them all.

Remove From Chrome:

Open Chrome, click chrome menu icon at the top-right corner —>More Tools —> Extensions. There, identify the malware and select chrome-trash-icon(Remove).

Remove From Internet Explorer:
Open IE, then click IE gear icon on the top-right corner —> Manage Add-ons.

Find the malicious add-on. Remove it by pressing Disable.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, then click Properties. Remove everything after the .exe” in the Target box.

Open Control Panel by holding the Win Key and R together. Write appwiz.cpl in the field, then click OK.

Here, find any program you had no intention to install and uninstall it.

Run the Task Manager by right clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Start Task Manager.

Look carefully at the file names and descriptions of the running processes. If you find any suspicious one, search on Google for its name, or contact me directly to identify it. If you find a malware process, right-click on it and choose End task.

Open MS Config by holding the Win Key and R together. Type msconfig and hit Enter.

Go in the Startup tab and Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer.

Still can not remove PackageTracer from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.