You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Message saying “Virus found . . . .”

When I was doing a DuckDuckGo search on my iPad, a message popped up saying “a virus has been found on your iMac.” I don’t have an iMac; I only have an iPad and iPhone. The message told me that all my information was at risk, and that I should click on the “Scan” button in the message. Has anyone received such a message? Is it legitimate? I didn’t click on the “Scan” button, but I am concerned.

Posted on Oct 14, 2019 7:12 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 14, 2019 7:13 AM

Its a scam. There are no viruses that can affect iOS.

Avoid phishing emails, fake 'virus' alerts, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

3 replies

Oct 14, 2019 7:31 AM in response to arain

When using Safari on your iPadOS iPad - and downloading the “desktop” version of a webpage (this is the iPadOS default setting) - your browser reports to the website that it is a Mac. The website, malicious in this case, believing that you are something that you are not, is trying to convince you that you have virus - and wants you to click on something that you shouldn’t!


This is a classic “bait” attack - that wants to install something nasty on your device - or convince you to part with something you shouldn’t.


As the previous responder has indicated, this is a scam.


Some things that you might like to consider in avoiding (or a least, significantly reducing) exposure to attacks of this nature:

1) Manually change the DNS settings on your device to point to Quad9 DNS Servers (Primary 9.9.9.9, Secondary 149.112.112.112) - as this is “filtered” recursive DNS service that prevents resolution of known “bad” addresses/sites.

2) Install the 1Blocker-X App - this can block the majority of “bad” content.


Hope you find this helpful.

Message saying “Virus found . . . .”

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.