Do I have virus on my Lumia? :/

Status
Not open for further replies.

Marute

New member
Jul 8, 2012
110
0
0
Visit site
Hi all, earlier today I was surfing around on the internet with my Lumia 800 when I accidently found my way to a not so friendly page. A grey pop up (in the grey design of the windows phone keyboard) appeared on my screen telling me something along the lines of "your pc has got a virus". It said "pc" and not "phone" or something like that. I panicked and closed the browser and deleted all cookies and history and so on. I'm quite sure I was using that data connection and not WiFi.
My question is now: Have I got a virus or something on my Lumia 800? How to know, if yes how to remove? In other words, is it broken? :( Thank you all, I hope you can help me. :/

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express
 

SteelSteve

New member
Oct 21, 2011
308
0
0
Visit site
I doubt you got a virus, though it's probably not impossible. If your concerned i would recommend downloading one of the anti virus programs from the market place. I don't know he good they are but you should be able to scan tour phone. Also keep an eye on tour phones performance, if it starts running real slow or doing thing out of the ordinary then you may have cause for concern

Sent from my Lumia 710 using Board Express
 
Apr 11, 2011
905
0
0
Visit site
That's one of those generic scare tactic messages that websites put up quite often.

Your Lumia does not have a virus. Beyond just the fact that it's a phone and not a PC it runs on the ARM platform, not on Win32 which would make it fairly difficult to get a virus that would actually work on it.
 

HeyCori

Mod Emeritus
Mar 1, 2011
6,860
67
48
Visit site
You have every WP virus ever created. Now the rest of the WP community is protected from ever getting one. Thank you for your sacrifice.
 

Marute

New member
Jul 8, 2012
110
0
0
Visit site
Well, I've seen no odd behaviour from my phone so hopefully that was false alarm. I have to admit that I thought it unlikely but I really needed someone to tell not to worry about it so thanks guys. :)

You have every WP virus ever created. Now the rest of the WP community is protected from ever getting one. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Lol, sacrifice is my way of living lol... :p
 

thed

New member
Jan 6, 2011
992
3
0
Visit site
That little gray popup is just the way the WP browser shows javascript alerts. So any website can show any message it wants in that little popup window.

So no, you don't have a virus, it's just a shady website trying to scare you. And don't go downloading any antivirus apps from the marketplace. Even if they were created with good intent, they don't have the ability to scan your system files anyway, so they're useless.
 

eric12341

New member
Dec 1, 2009
2,637
3
0
Visit site
That little gray popup is just the way the WP browser shows javascript alerts. So any website can show any message it wants in that little popup window.

So no, you don't have a virus, it's just a shady website trying to scare you. And don't go downloading any antivirus apps from the marketplace. Even if they were created with good intent, they don't have the ability to scan your system files anyway, so they're useless.


I've yet to see a popup of any kind show up on WP.
 

socialcarpet

Banned
Apr 4, 2012
1,893
0
0
Visit site
No you don't have a virus. You just went to a web page with a stupid pop-up add that says you do.

Personally I think the people who make real viruses AND fake pop-up crap like this should be shot.
 

thed

New member
Jan 6, 2011
992
3
0
Visit site
I've yet to see a popup of any kind show up on WP.
Not sure what you mean by this. This is how the browser displays JavaScript alerts.

Anyone can replicate this on your phone. Just create a favorite and paste this into the address box:

javascript:alert('omg virus!!!1')

Then open that from the favorites menu and you'll see it.

Sent from my HTC Trophy using Board Express
 

jdevenberg

New member
Jul 19, 2011
1,037
0
0
Visit site
No, it's a ploy to get your credit card number or personal info. Had you not closed the browser one of the following would have occurred:
1. They would have tried to sell you a program to remove the virus (note, this program would not have been able to install on your phone). Buying there program would give them your credit card info, then they would have proceeded to make charges on it.
Or
2. They would have offered a free program to get rid of the virus (also wouldn't have installed on your phone). If you were on a pc and downloaded this free program, it would have told you it needed permission to run as administrator to remove the virus. It would have then been able to harvest any and all data it wanted off of your computer, install another program on your computer, change any settings it wanted, or make your computer part of a botnet.
 

sinime

Retired Moderator
Sep 13, 2011
4,461
0
0
Visit site
Viruses are one thing that scares me about WP8 sharing the same core as Win 8. Will it lead to easy WP viruses or will there be differences that will keep the mobile community safe?

Sry for the hijackery.
 

jdevenberg

New member
Jul 19, 2011
1,037
0
0
Visit site
There will be some differences. WP8 shares the windows 8 kernel, but does not support all the api's and programming functions that windows 8 does. For example, no third party app can run as administrator on windows phone. In fact, no app can install unless it is from the marketplace. That safeguard alone will protect us for the foreseeable future. The main reasons Android has such a malware problem are Google doesn't approve/check apps before publishing to Google Play (Mocrosoft does check apps prior to publishing) and Android allows the installation of applications from outside the marketplace (aka, side loading. Only available on developer unlocked windows phones)
 

socialcarpet

Banned
Apr 4, 2012
1,893
0
0
Visit site
Viruses are one thing that scares me about WP8 sharing the same core as Win 8. Will it lead to easy WP viruses or will there be differences that will keep the mobile community safe?

Sry for the hijackery.

I wouldn't worry about it.

The "walled garden" of iOS and Windows Phone that people like to complain about is one of the main reasons they don't have virus and malware problems that plague Android.

You avoid this by having a careful screening process in an official apps marketplace and by locking off large portions of the inner workings of your closed source OS.

This is a GOOD thing for most people.

If you want the smartphone equivalent of unprotected sex with street hookers, get an Android.

iOS and Windows Phone are more like a monogamous relationship with a faithful partner.
 

Marute

New member
Jul 8, 2012
110
0
0
Visit site
Thanks guys, it's great to hear that I need not worry. Also nice knowing what that grey pop-up really means. Thank you all, it scared me a bit in a second.

On my pc, though, I assume my Antivirus would pick up any virus. I know well enough never to listen to any "install this to remove that"-messages. ;)
 

Reflexx

New member
Dec 30, 2010
4,484
4
0
Visit site
Not sure what you mean by this. This is how the browser displays JavaScript alerts.

Anyone can replicate this on your phone. Just create a favorite and paste this into the address box:

javascript:alert('omg virus!!!1')

Then open that from the favorites menu and you'll see it.

Sent from my HTC Trophy using Board Express

Thanks a lot. I did that and now I think I have a virus!!!:p
 

Reflexx

New member
Dec 30, 2010
4,484
4
0
Visit site
Thanks guys, it's great to hear that I need not worry. Also nice knowing what that grey pop-up really means. Thank you all, it scared me a bit in a second.

On my pc, though, I assume my Antivirus would pick up any virus. I know well enough never to listen to any "install this to remove that"-messages. ;)

Even if you have an antivirus on your PC, just be careful. There are always new and creative ways that viruses are written. And AV companies might not know about a way to fix or block it until days or weeks later.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
322,905
Messages
2,242,870
Members
428,004
Latest member
hetb