ipad safari pop up said I had a trojan and that I should scan for viruses

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Level 1

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ipad safari pop up said I had a trojan and that I should scan for viruses

I was browsing using Safari on my ipad, and a pop up window that looked like it was an Apple window said something about a trojan and needing to scan. It would not let me close out the window in Safari, so I clicked on the thing and then it said it was infected, and I was then able to close out the window. I panicked, so I went to settings and turned off Wifi so it hopefully wouldn't do anything to my other devices (iphone and my toshiba laptop). I'm not tech savvy so I don't know if I really have a virus now, or if it's bogus. Does anyone know what I should do?

iPad (4th gen) Wi-Fi, iOS 6.1.3

Posted on Oct 7, 2013 10:28 AM

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Answer 1

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jpozuk

Level 1

55 points

Oct 7, 2013 10:42 AM in response to goosity

I would guess that the popup was fake. If this ever happened again my suggestions would be to double click on the home button and "kill" safari. You could then clear history and cookies under settings. Also website data under the advanced tab. If really paranoid you could do a restore from itunes. Never click on a popup. That could download something.

Sorry I do not have links to detailed instructions for these. Hopefully one of the apple employees who patrol these sites could provide.

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Answer 2

Oct 7, 2013 10:55 AM in response to goosity

Close the window. There's nothing else you need to do. Those pop-ups are scams designed to scare people into buying anti-virus software. There are no know viruses or trojans in the wild that affect an un-jailbroken iOS device. There is no need to restore your device.

Best of luck.

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Answer 3

goosity Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 7, 2013 11:00 AM in response to jpozuk

Thank you for your advice. I went in and cleared the history, cookies, and website data like you suggested. Hopefully everything's good. I just panicked and shouldn't have hit that button. Thanks very much.

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Answer 4

jpozuk

Level 1

55 points

Oct 7, 2013 11:06 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Thanks for a saner view. You are most likely correct. However I am paranoid, and the suggestions I provided are quick and painless (except for the restore).

I still remember 7 or 8 years ago, when an apple genius told me my ipod had a virus. It was that or admit there was a problem covered under warranty.

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Answer 5

goosity Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 7, 2013 11:01 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Thanks, Meg. They succeded in scaring me that's for sure. Have a great day.

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Answer 6

Oct 7, 2013 11:41 AM in response to jpozuk

jpozuk wrote:

I still remember 7 or 8 years ago, when an apple genius told me my ipod had a virus. It was that or admit there was a problem covered under warranty.

Oh, goodness! How awful.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with your suggestions. Everyone has different tolerances for risk. Clearing history and cookies isn't a bad idea at all.

😁

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