Android virus warning- just a pop up prank?

Hi everyone!

So a little while ago, I was browsing twitter on my galaxy s3 mini android and clicked on a link to a compilation of funny images website from a account I follow.

For about five minutes, it was fine but then all of a sudden this message pops up (looking like a genuine android message - such as the kind you get when its asking you if you want to shut down your phone) and says "there may be a virus on your android. Please scan for viruses" then an OK and CANCEL option.

The message totally threw me and made me panic (I've had my android over a year and never gotten a message like this before!) so without thinking tapped 'Ok'. But everytime I did this in my panic the message just kept popping up abd nothing else seemed to happen. After a few seconds, I realised my stupidity that it could be a fake pop up and pressing OKAY could be the equivalent of YEAH, HERES ALL MY PASSWORDS, CONTACTS AND SURE YOU CAN KILL MY PHONE.

So I shut the web briwser immedietly and raced onto google play and quickly downloaded an anti-virus app (kaspersky to be specific as I have had this software on computers for years and have found it extremely reliable).

It took a while to setup because I had to reset my account password. :/

When it finished setup I scanned my device, updated the databases and scanned again.
Thankfully, no risks were found and my device was deemed healthy and safe.

Just to be sure, I did a web search to double check any 'symptoms' of virus and malware infection but everything that was pointed out seemed fine (sudden use of data,battery draining quickly etc).

I'm much calmer now, but don't want to turn my phone off in case haha!

BUT I wanted to know if anyone else has had a similar genuine looking pop up and whether they had an infected device, or like me, seem to have either been pranked or mislead?

Also, do you think its worth me alerting the people whom tweeted the link out in the first place of the issue?

Reply 1

a9493r

Yes....that is a malware that roots itself in your hard disk as soon as you press ok since that is actually a link you are pressing...the virus doesn't really cause privacy invasion...just causes a lot more pop up ads and adverts in general...

Reply 2

mediageek123

Original post by a9493r

I haven't had any more issues. No suspicious apps, no pop ups and no anti virus messages.

So, my phone won't crash or have its critical files damaged?