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Malware popup

My iPad Pro has been taken hostage. I cannot get rid of it & can’t search the internet (using another iPad) I tried shutting down my iPad but can’t get rid of it

The popup that says “Your system is infected with (3) Viruses” and then says to call apple support 1-866-726-****. Can someone help?


iPad Pro, iOS 13

Posted on Feb 18, 2020 1:54 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 18, 2020 2:19 PM

Don’t panic - you’re just seeing a persistent malicious popup. If Safari has been force-closed, there are things we can do. Don’t under any circumstances respond to pop-up messages purporting to be from Apple; they’re not!


First, we’ll erase your Website data to clear-out any persistent links:

Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data


Now we can try to prevent a recurrence. From the Apple App Store, I recommend that you install the 1Blocker App. Just search for it by name in the App Store. Here’s a direct link, but your regional App Store may differ:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/1blocker/id1365531024


1Blocker is a very effective Content and Ad blocker - with an excellent reputation. The free functionality should provide good protection from unwanted intrusion, but you might benefit from the modest subscription to enable full functionality.


There are some additional things we can do with DNS settings if additional protection is required. Let us know if you want to explore this option.


I hope you find this helpful.



6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 18, 2020 2:19 PM in response to Valerie0214

Don’t panic - you’re just seeing a persistent malicious popup. If Safari has been force-closed, there are things we can do. Don’t under any circumstances respond to pop-up messages purporting to be from Apple; they’re not!


First, we’ll erase your Website data to clear-out any persistent links:

Settings > Safari > Clear History & Website Data


Now we can try to prevent a recurrence. From the Apple App Store, I recommend that you install the 1Blocker App. Just search for it by name in the App Store. Here’s a direct link, but your regional App Store may differ:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/1blocker/id1365531024


1Blocker is a very effective Content and Ad blocker - with an excellent reputation. The free functionality should provide good protection from unwanted intrusion, but you might benefit from the modest subscription to enable full functionality.


There are some additional things we can do with DNS settings if additional protection is required. Let us know if you want to explore this option.


I hope you find this helpful.



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