Browser Hijack

I was just minding my own business surfing the internet when from out of the blue I get this message, purportedly from Apple tech support telling me that I may have contacted some malware and needed to call an 844 number for help. I new immediately this wasn't an Apple Support number. My Safari web browser was frozen and I couldn't clear the message. Quitting and reopening the browser brought me back to the same predicament. Neither did a reboot help. 

I posted my problem the Apple Support Forum and within a couple of minutes I had a reply. The respondent told me to close the browser and restart it holding down the shift key. That fixed the immediate problem. He also suggested that I download a product called AdwareMedic, which I did and scan for any malware. It did find a browser extension called Awesome Screen Saver and I deleted it. Here is a link to this Mac app. I also made a small donation for this very useful and effective piece of software.

http://www.adwaremedic.com/index.php 

-Bill