Weather App Amazon Pop Up Hack

Question

Level 1

25 points

Weather App Amazon Pop Up Hack

The default iPhone Weather App supported by the Weather Channel has issues and hacks your phone now. Once you open the Weather app, you have the option in the bottom left corner of the screen to click on the logo for the Weather Channel. If you do this, within seconds of scrolling to the right, you get a spam that will hack your phone. The pop up says, "You've been selected for a chance to get the $1000 Amazon Fit and, Apple iPhone X 256G or Samsung Galaxy S8! Please click OK to claim your reward before it expires." My friends and I tried this on four different Phones today, FOUR! So it's not tied to one persons phone clearly. I can't answer if you are not having this issue but it's a problem. Phones tested: 8 Plus, 6 Plus, 6S and a 7.

Anyone else out there seeing this or able to help with this?

Thanks

iPhone 8 Plus, iOS 11.2.6, null

Posted on Mar 2, 2018 4:14 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Lawrence Finch

Level 10

201,982 points

Mar 3, 2018 11:07 AM in response to kairos33

I finally found Apple's instructions for dealing with these pseudo-popups: How to block pop-ups in Safari - Apple Support

Note that if you DID tap or click the CLOSE button in the ad there's additional cleanup to do, or it will keep coming back. You need to delete any cookies set by the ad; they will have the same name as the site name that appears in the address bar. The best way to do this for Safari:

Kill Safari by going to the Multitasking screen and swiping up on its screen image (on an iPhone X tap the "x")
Go to Settings/Safari, scroll down and tap Advanced
Tap Website Data
Tap Show All Sites
Scroll through the list and swipe left to delete any cookies that either match the pop-up's site name or that look suspicious
You can alternatively delete all website data, but this is overkill, and will disable many of the desirable features on sites that you visit regularly, such as your saved passwords and site preferences

Reply

Answer 2

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,972 points

Mar 3, 2018 1:16 AM in response to kairos33

Each individual who knows this issue has occurred to an iOS device

or macOS product, could offer feedback to Apple; as this affects OS

there are at least two places in Product Feedback - Apple to report...

{And implemented steps Lawrence suggests, should stop the problem.}

... To try the suggested cure, and also send feedback too, is a good idea.

Likely that Apple is aware of it by now. Other site links through app page

content can do something like this. Even in an older iOS version.

Good luck & happy trails! 🙂

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 2, 2018 6:04 PM in response to kairos33

No, you will not get a spam that will hack your phone. That icon redirects to a Safari page, and the Safari page is displaying an ad. This has been a problem for many sites, and apparently it's even hit the weather channel page now.

What to do: DO NOT tap the close button. Instead tap in the address bar, clear it, and enter google.com. If you have tapped the Close button go into Safari settings and clear all website data.

Reply

Answer 4

Mar 2, 2018 6:29 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Just as a followup, the issue is with weather.com. If you go to weather.com in a browser in iOS the same malware ad will appear. And not just Safari. I can reproduce it in Firefox (it's actually worse in Firefox, because it locks up Firefox).

I've reported it through Apple's chain of command in the hopes they will notify The Weather Channel of the problem with their site.

Reply

Answer 5

kairos33 Author

Level 1

25 points

Mar 2, 2018 8:29 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Correct, it's weather.com but it's not enough to say that. And that's why I was very clear in describing where/when the spam promo appears that will hack your phone. The fact that it's the web site on the Weather Channel (which apple points to and pulls data from) but not on the first screen of the app is what I said. It's an important differentiation to make. I knew not to click the spam promo which prevents many from using the Weather Channels advanced weather info but others have not know and now their phones have been compromised, so apple is not helping 1) as a result of the Apple having a default iPhone app that points to this corrupted location (which many users don't know is a web site and not the app and don't care btw at all which it is to the user who gets hacked) and 2) by Apple not notifying/warning people of what happens if they click on the link they provide = a not so seamless transition into danger zone. In fact, more and more people are victims due to the default app which will lead to their phone being hacked if they click into the app. I was more than surprised after an hour of web surfing to not find one mention of this problem by Apple or even others, especially since it's a confirmed issue and a big one. Lawrence, I appreciate you reporting this up Apples chain of command in hopes they get on this

Reply

Answer 6

Mar 2, 2018 11:01 PM in response to kairos33

I guess I wasn’t clear.

IT WILL NOT HACK YOUR PHONE. YOUR PHONE CANNOT BE HACKED.

Yes, it is annoying, but it is easily resolved. I tested it, verified it, and easily bypassed it. The best way to deal with this and hundreds of other similar ways to get your attention is to install an ad blocker from the app store. It isn’t just an Apple problem; it occurs on other phones and computers also.

Reply

Answer 7

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,972 points

Mar 3, 2018 1:57 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

An aside to this issue... Curious if one could get the NWS weather app ~ such as

my iPhone 5c iOS 10.3.x included. I'd hoped to get that one for iPad w/ iOS 9.3.x

And it doesn't appear in the iOS App Store in these devices.

There were issues with The Weather Channel app which dissuaded my use of that.

If one could get the NWS weather app, it's better at least in my iPhone's last iOS.

Thank you for your helpful contributions...! 🙂

Reply

Answer 8

Mar 3, 2018 2:18 PM in response to K Shaffer

I've been using WeatherBug for about 8 years. I'm very happy with it. Real time weather radar, NWS alerts, real time lightning tracking, hourly weather, weather studio videos, a lot of other features.

Reply

Answer 9

kairos33 Author

Level 1

25 points

Mar 3, 2018 7:05 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

It's good you posted this "resolution" as we did find this earlier online in searching for a resolution. We didn't post it because we tried it on four iPhones and it didn't work on any. If it worked for you, then great. I hope it does and I am not saying its not going to work for others. It didn't help us. I hear that you are saying clicking on the pop up does not result in a "hack". Ok then my questions becomes 1) How are you certain? 2) Doesn't it seem likely that this form of spam provides some sort of hack? For example, as far as I'm concerned when a popup like this happens and it A) doesn't serve the purpose it claims and B) is not sponsored or created by the listed creator, e.g. Amazon, then there is a probability of some malicious intent. Information such as contacts may be accessed or pulled from the phone for example.

Reply

Weather App Amazon Pop Up Hack

Similar questions