Hope you don't receive this fake virus alert popup on your mobile device

A couple of days ago, a few of our readers shared their experience of receiving fake virus alert popup while browsing the Internet on their mobile device. This Article tells you more about these fake virus alert popup. As we all know that unwanted and malicious pop-up mobile ads have been around in the Internet for a long time now. Hackers compromise vulnerable websites and force them to display false virus threat notification to trick users into downloading a fake or free virus protection software, which in most cases, is a malware in itself.

Improve Internet Security for Fake Virus Alert Popup

We also, released a blog post talking about this issue some time back in 2014. The post helped users identity fake virus alerts and mobile antivirus apps on the Internet.

Hackers are now increasingly using the same tactic to trick mobile phone users. As mobile devices are becoming the primary medium to access the Internet, hackers are using this trend to their advantage.

A couple of days earlier, one of our readers reported us about a malware threat notification while browsing the Internet on their mobile phone. The Fake Virus Alert Popup notification somewhat looked like this:

As you can see, this fake virus alert popup message looks critical enough to trick anyone who is reading it, especially if the user is unaware of such scams. In most cases, clicking OK takes the user to a third party site where they are asked to download an free antivirus download app which claims to clean the infection.

Please be advised that mobile browser Fake Virus Alert Popup notifications such as these are fake virus alerts and you must never respond to them. In almost all cases, these so-called fake and free antivirus apps turn out to be adware that serve unwanted ads to trick users and earn money for scammers.

In other cases, these apps could be a Trojan horse, or a spyware that steals personal information. In all cases, such apps are unsafe.

What Should You Do? for Fake Virus Alert Popup Appears:

Do not visit websites by clicking on links received in unwanted or unexpected emails.
If you come across any ‘virus alert’ as shown above, do not respond to the message, no matter how critical it may sound. Close the browser immediately and take the following steps:
– Clear browsing history
– Clear the cache
– Clear cookies & site data

Run an mobile antivirus scan on your mobile using a trusted mobile security app.
Never install mobile apps from third party stores. Follow official stores like Google Play
Run a quick research on the publisher of the app you intend to install. Also go through the reviews and comments of users who have used it
Read app permissions carefully before installing it. If you think, there are unnecessary permissions, do not install it
Install a reliable popular mobile security app like Mobile Security is now Free for Android smartphone.