I did a long press preview of a link that was either phishing or spyware/malware. I am not tech savvy, and I am kind of freaking out.

I got a text message late at night while I was going to bed about my Netflix account, with one hand I went to go back to my messages and brushed over the link where it opened. While the link was still black and I assume loading I closed it and cleared my history and went to sleep. (I use safari, but I am not logged in to any email account)


I have severe OCD and I started worrying about it, so in the morning I did a long press over the link to preview it (it was a HTTPS link to "account-review") and after a few seconds of loading it was a white screen with a checkmark that said "success". I let go of the preview obviously, and went to clear my history as that seemed like a good idea, but the website was not there. Clearly, this was not Netflix. I put my phone on airplane mode because I am now worried about spyware/malware/viruses etc.


I did not enter any personal information or accept any download prompt, but I am worried that when it was loading while I previewed it, that it injected something into my phone. I am having a lot of anxiety over it, and I was wondering if this is unfounded. I checked my apps and I don't think I see anything new installed or anything and I checked profiles under VPN but nothing is there except an option to add a school profile or turn on VPN.


I am sure this seems stupid to anyone reading who is knowledgable, but I am just not a tech guy so this is concerning to me.

Posted on Sep 2, 2023 11:10 AM

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Posted on Sep 3, 2023 10:11 AM

Hello bangaloremain,


We'd like to start off by saying that it sounds like you are perfectly fine. Nothing you did leads us to believe your device is at risk. However, to ease your mind, please take a look at this very thorough support article that explains how to protect your Apple ID account and data: If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support.


This article may also be helpful to learn more about this: Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.


In addition, please know that unless you've jailbroken your iPhone (explained here: Unauthorized modification of iOS - Apple Support), there's not a chance that you will contract a virus on your iPhone.


We hope that this helps to clarify the situation. Take care and have a good rest of your day.


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 3, 2023 10:11 AM in response to bangaloremain

Hello bangaloremain,


We'd like to start off by saying that it sounds like you are perfectly fine. Nothing you did leads us to believe your device is at risk. However, to ease your mind, please take a look at this very thorough support article that explains how to protect your Apple ID account and data: If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support.


This article may also be helpful to learn more about this: Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.


In addition, please know that unless you've jailbroken your iPhone (explained here: Unauthorized modification of iOS - Apple Support), there's not a chance that you will contract a virus on your iPhone.


We hope that this helps to clarify the situation. Take care and have a good rest of your day.


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I did a long press preview of a link that was either phishing or spyware/malware. I am not tech savvy, and I am kind of freaking out.

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