"Your system is infected with (3) Viruses” when opening a Safari tab

_poppy wrote:

I got quite a convincing website come up when I opened a sketchy website sent to me by one of my friends. It said that I had been infected with 3 viruses and that if I didn’t download this VON then it would further damage my battery, however I check my battery health and it was still %100 and malware was spelt incorrectly 🙈

That wasn’t malware.

It was an advertisement.

And the advertiser lied about the battery, and about the need for an add-on VPN.

These advertisements are amusing too, as many if not most add-on VPN “services” are centrally built and operated to access and track your network activities.

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

shona48 wrote:

I clicked scan now a few times to show my sister and it sent me to some sort of Nortan app to get rid of it

That wasn’t a malware scan.

If a website could “scan” your iPhone or iPad, the miscreants would directly steal your information. Even installed apps can’t “scan”, much less from some random or some sketchy website. That’d be a security catastrophe, if a website could “scan”.

It was an advertisement.

And the advertiser lied about the “virus”, and about the need for add-on security apps.

These advertisements are amusing too, as many if not most add-on anti-“virus” tools and add-on VPN “services” are centrally built and operated to access and track your network activities. Those apps are very much approaching being malware themselves— some have been outright caught collecting and selling this info, too.

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Now if you did loaded an app from the app store or from Apple Testflight, remove it.

ps: stop interacting with advertisements and spam. That just draws more dreck. Ignore it, and move on.

Glenda715 wrote:

I had a message my tablet has a virus

That wasn’t a malware scan.

If a website could “scan” your iPhone or iPad, the miscreants would directly steal your information. Even installed apps can’t “scan”, much less from some random or some sketchy website. That’d be a security catastrophe, if a website could “scan”.

It was an advertisement.

And the advertiser lied about the “virus”, and—if this is one of the usual ads—about the need for add-on security apps.

Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

There’s no “virus”, no “hack”, and nothing here for you to fix.

samsh2121 wrote:

my Mac is infected and I don't know how to clean it

If you saw some “virus scan” pop-up or “your Mac is infected with (32767) viruses” pop-up, the pop-up lied.

You weren’t scanned, websites and pop-ups cannot scan (if websites could scan, they’d have access to all your info, and could just upload it directly without the “scanning” canard), and yes, some advertisers can and do lie.

Tap or click on the following blue-text link for more info from Apple on this and other scams:

… Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Seiven7777 wrote:

I don’t have a number so this virus may be on here pls help

If you saw some “virus scan” pop-up or “your Mac {or iPhone or iPad} is infected with (32767) viruses” pop-up, or other similar rubbish, the pop-up lied.

You weren’t scanned, websites and pop-ups cannot scan (if websites could scan, they’d have access to all your info, and could just upload it directly without the “scanning” canard), and yes, some advertisers can and do lie.

Tap or click on the following blue-text link for more info from Apple on this and other scams:

… Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Duckygamer2936 wrote:

This happened to me too but i just took it to the apple store and said nothing was wrong with it and it was just probably a spam

These popup messages and this scam—one of many common scams—are seen by lots of folks. Seen by everybody, if the scammers and spammers get their way.

As for the “virus scan” pop-up or “your Mac {or iPhone or iPad} is infected with (32767) viruses” pop-up, or other similar rubbish, the pop-up lied.

You weren’t scanned, websites and pop-ups cannot scan (if websites could scan, they’d have access to all your info, and could just upload it directly without the bogus “scanning” claim), and yes, some advertisers can and do lie.

Tap or click on the following blue-text link for more info from Apple on this and other scams:

… Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Man0925 wrote:

I just got 3 viruses and I don’t know what to do. Do you know a free virus remover that doesent need a phone number,credit card info, or money? I don’t know what to do and I need help.

If it’s the pop-up website “scanner” telling you you have viruses… Congratulations on having no viruses. None. Your iPhone or iPd or Mac is fine.

Advertisements with sketchy claims or lies are common.

Here, an advertiser seeking to panic readers into loading an app unneeded, used words intended to cause fear and panic…

“VIRUS VIRUS VIRIS HACKER HACKER HACKER”

…in an effort to profit from a lie; from an app you don’t need, but that will be profitable for the advertiser, and for the app vendor.

You got lied to. By a pop-up advertisement. Websites which cannot scan your iPhone or iPad or Mac. Your iPhone or iPad or Mac is fine.

kalea126 wrote:

It says I have 3 viruses on my phone what do I do

If it’s the pop-up website “scanner” telling you you have viruses…

Congratulations on having no viruses.

None.

Your iPhone or iPd or Mac is fine.

Advertisements with sketchy claims or lies are common.

Here, an advertiser seeking to panic readers into loading an app unneeded, used words intended to cause fear and panic…

“VIRUS VIRUS VIRIS HACKER HACKER HACKER”

…in an effort to profit from a lie; from an app you don’t need, but that will be profitable for the advertiser, and for the app vendor.

You got lied to.

Websites which cannot scan your iPhone or iPad or Mac.

Your iPhone or iPad or Mac is fine.

laylah91 wrote:

i Have 3 viruses how do I get rid of them??!!

If it’s the pop-up website “scanner” telling you that you have viruses…

Congratulations on having no viruses.

None.

Your iPhone or iPd or Mac is fine.

Advertisements with sketchy claims or lies are common.

Here, an advertiser seeking to panic readers into loading an app unneeded, used words intended to cause fear and panic…

“VIRUS VIRUS VIRIS HACKER HACKER HACKER”

…in an effort to profit from a lie; from an app you don’t need, but that will be profitable for the advertiser, and for the app vendor.

You got lied to.

Websites which cannot scan your iPhone or iPad or Mac.

Your iPhone or iPad or Mac is fine.

Skjsnsjsjsjs wrote:

What kind of virus is this

One that an advertiser uses to infects users—users, us, and not our computers, which are fine and are uninfected—with a desperate desire to compromise our own security and privacy, or to waste our money buying junk apps.

Our computers are fine, it’s us themselves that are the target. Us.

Advertisers routinely use their skills to convince users (us) to acquire unnecessary stuff, these particular advertisers merely believe themselves freed from the shackles of regulations around business practices and truthfulness.

There are many variations of these scams. Here are a few more: Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

tacoryn wrote:

It happened to me too I just opened safari and I virus popped out idk how and why it just did

You are reading an advertisement making false claims, and your iPhone has no viruses.

The advertiser is lying.

Nothing is wrong with your iPhone, either.

Not anything from this advertisement, and nothing was detected by this advertisement, and certainly nothing related to the bogus “scan” cartoon animations that many of these advertisements claim to perform.

These advertisements cannot scan your iPhone/iPad/Mac/Windows/whatever, and cannot detect malware, but they can lie.

And lie they do.

The advertisers all know and choose to use scary words, too. Virus! Hacker! Infected!

Please see the previous seventy-some pages for some other folks that have encountered advertisers that have lied.

Some of the other sorts of lies and scams you have or will encounter:

… Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Eden118y wrote:

My daughter had this happen to her, she’s not even a teenager and it freaked her out

It freaks a lot of people, yes.

It works for its intended purpose.

Time to teach the youngster that some advertisers will lie, some teachers and parents, some politicians and police…

And that there are lots of scams based on those and other lies, too:

… Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

yazxtra13 wrote:

hello, how are you? I want to know what I do because there is 3 viruses in my iPhone.

Thank you for your assistance

You have actually three TRILLION viruses, four hackers, three penguins, two doves, and an aardvark with a kazoo. Or I’m an advertiser, and I just used scary words intended to be scary, and scared folks to things advertisers like; or I lied to you.

More seriously, It’s an advertisement. As ads go, it works immensely well. It’s among the best advertisements around. Just look at seventy-plus pages of postings on it here, and which is undoubtedly a small fraction of those that have seen the ad, and those that have (unfortunately, unnecessarily, needlessly) installed something acquired via the advertisement.

This is not limited to “virus!!!” advertisements, too.

Others can and will and do use similar techniques and similar lies, whether for (or against) products, politicians, public policies, propaganda, and myriad other interests, too.

Here are some other common scams: Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Yeah, we all find that aardvark annoying, too. 😆

Fatima2p wrote:

I need the removal of virus

That was an advertisement. Not a virus scan.

The advertiser deliberately used words intended to scare you.

HACKER!

VIRUS!

Words intended to cause fear. Words intended to get you ready to BUY! BUY! BUY!

The advertisement also (falsely) claimed to run a malware scan, too. (It lied.) Websites cannot access your local data. That’d be a security catastrophe.

Probably selling some rubbish app. Probably advertising some rubbish VPN client too, if recent trends hold.

Here is more info: Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

ps: assume anything you might read using the word “virus” or “hacker” is entertainment, or an advertisement, or a scam, until proven otherwise.

Kevin213_ wrote:

Help me get a virus of my phone

That was an advertisement. Not a virus scan.

The advertiser deliberately used words intended to scare you. HACKER! VIRUS!

Words intended to cause fear.

Words intended to get you ready to BUY! BUY! BUY!

The advertisement also (falsely) claimed to run a malware scan, too. (It lied.) Websites cannot access your local data. That’d be a security catastrophe. Websites cannot scan an iPhone or iPad or Mac or Windows or Linux computer.

The advertisement is usually selling some rubbish app in recent times. Probably advertising some rubbish VPN client you don’t need for a problem you don’t have.

Here is more info: Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

ps: best assume anything you might read using the word “virus” or “hacker” is either entertainment, or an advertisement, or a scam, until proven otherwise.