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snoman's avatar
snoman
On our wavelength
29 days ago
Solved

Virus scam received via WiFi

I am constantly being bombarded, on my Dell laptop, by spoof messages appearing directly in both Chrome and Edge browsers - not emails.  These messages claim that I have been infected with a virus and that I need to click on a link (with a ".in" suffix!) to remove the virus.  Needless to say, I have ignored this advice.  The messages will cease for a while and then return.  I do have AVG Anti-Virus free installed and also Widows Defender (Win10) claims to be protecting me, but neither appear to be effective.

My wife's IPad, using the same router, is unaffected.

Interestingly, whilst typing this, I am not getting any spoof messages.

  • snoman's avatar
    snoman
    25 days ago

    Spot on, Alessandro!  Found the offending app, now disabled and all OK again.  No idea how the app got there.  Many thanks for your help.

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  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    29 days ago

    Check browser extensions for anything that should not be there.

    Have a look down your list of 'Programs and Features' in 'Control Panel' and see if there is anything that should not be there.

    I recently had to fix a friends PC where some kind of AI type of app had been installed and was corrupting all browsing activity.

    These can be added as add-ons to free apps and may appear to be legitimate as far as anti-virus is concerned.

    • snoman's avatar
      snoman
      On our wavelength
      29 days ago

      I have tried your suggestion, but cannot see anything suspicious.  AVG claim they are blocking something, but it's still appearing, although not on this forum.

      • goslow's avatar
        goslow
        Alessandro Volta
        29 days ago

        What does AVG report it is blocking?

        Also have a look in 'Task Manager' for any unexpected entries that are running under the 'Processes' tab and look on the 'Startup' tab to see if anything is being launched at startup.

  • snoman's avatar
    snoman
    On our wavelength
    29 days ago

    Thanks, I might give this a try.

    Incidentally, a search on the Web has revealed that I'm not alone in suffering from this problem, but no solutions have been suggested.

  • snoman's avatar
    snoman
    On our wavelength
    29 days ago

    Just tried malwarebytes, but makes no difference.  Now getting pop-ups on this forum.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    29 days ago

    Share screen shots of the pop-ups.

    Also share the links to the websites that first trigger the pop-ups.

    Sometimes these are not a virus at all just a malformed advert looking to hood wink the unwary, 
    since using advert blockers (e.g. Ublock Origin) for our web browsers the fake anti virus web pages have not been seen.

  • snoman's avatar
    snoman
    On our wavelength
    28 days ago

    Thanks for the info.  However, I wasn't using Edge at the time, although it is installed.  I was using Chrome.  The virus seems to have infected both browsers.

    • goslow's avatar
      goslow
      Alessandro Volta
      28 days ago

      Expanding on Client62's popup suggestion by using the words mentioned in the screenshot threw up this (although it is a couple of years old so details may not match current software versions)

      https://www.reddit.com/r/antivirus/comments/100bwnr/how_to_remove_fake_mcafee_pop_ups/?rdt=48560

      Alternatively/also, your screenshot seems to be showing Windows notifications.

      Go into Settings>>System>>Notifications and actions

      and scrutinise the section for 'Get notifications from these apps' and see if there is an unwelcome app there that should not be

      The fact you are getting the notifications and use two browsers could also mean it is something you have installed. When I have come across these sorts of things before, the user has often installed some kind of utility program (such as a PDF writer etc. etc.) and it has brought with it the popup malware.

    • ALF28's avatar
      ALF28
      Super solver
      22 days ago

      resetting the browser is worth doing and also check extensions.

      Regarding antivirus, note that they usually replace defender, but malwarebytes  pro can run alongside defender if the setting it is not registered in windows security, giving extra protection with defender still working. Avast or avg free versions are good but windows defender is also good but do a full scan.

      I often do a free online scan from eset, but can take a day to complete a scan

      It is also worth resetting the windows firewall to default if the device  has been infected.

      Also check that router settings  are correct and choose a  strong wifi password. not the default one.

  • snoman's avatar
    snoman
    On our wavelength
    25 days ago

    Spot on, Alessandro!  Found the offending app, now disabled and all OK again.  No idea how the app got there.  Many thanks for your help.