Bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE last night and have already got a virus

[poshbird87]

Hello,

First thread on here and huge n00b to the world of Samsung and Android, so please go easy on me...

After being an iPhone user for almost 6 years, I thought I'd switch to a Samsung Galaxy as my next phone. It's been just over 24 hours and I'm not sure if I'm starting to regret it as I've just got what I think is a virus!!

I went and bought it last night, charged it, started it up, and downloaded my usual apps: Pinterest, Twitter, 9gag, Instagram, ... but just now I've gone on the Chrome app (which came already installed on the phone) to browse dailymail.co.uk and a box popped up saying:-

" The page at com-mobile.org says:

Download Cool Apps, Games, Ringtones, and Wallpapers with Mobogenie! Click Ok and Install Now! "

Then there are two options. Cancel and Ok. So I click on Cancel. Also worth nothing that clicking anywhere outside of this box doesn't do anything so you have to select an option.

It goes away for about 3 seconds, and then another box pops up!

" The page at appdownloader.info says:

Possible virus detected! Initiating virus scan.

Click OK to start the scan now! "

This time, no Cancel option.

Again, I tried to click outside of the box but nothing happens, so I closed Chrome, re-opened it, but it was still there. Then I went to the Application Manager under Settings, selected Chrome and clicked "Clear Data".

Opened Chrome again, started browsing again, and up came the first box again.

What the hell? I didn't know Android phones could get viruses, malware and spam!!

If I knew that I honestly would not have bought it because I'm not very techy and patient for things likes this. I never ever had any kind of problem with my iPhone/s over the years other than handsets becoming quite slow due to OS updates.

So, please help. What do I do? How can I find out where this spam or virus or whatever it is is coming from? And how can i get rid of it?!

EDIT: The exact same scenario happens when I use the Internet app that came with the phone too.

Please help. I love everything about this phone and am gutted that it's taken no time at all for it to get a problem

 

[tezza34]

Hiya poshbird best thing to do is download an app called anti virus run the program then it will pull the virus out and delete it hope this helps

Posted via Android Central App

 

[poshbird87]

^^ Thank you. This app you've suggested, is it just called "Anti Virus"? And available from Play Store, yes?

 

[neonworm]

^^ Thank you. This app you've suggested, is it just called "Anti Virus"? And available from Play Store, yes?

I recommend downloading Avast antivirus: https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...m.avast.android.mobilesecurity&token=LZw4_bwv Once you download it just run a scan.

Sent from my out-of-this-world Galaxy S3

 

[mrsmumbles]

There are a bunch of popular ones, such as AVG, Avast, Lookout, Kaspersky, TrendMicro, etc.

But it sounds to me like you didn't get a virus but rather were the target of a couple of very obnoxious ads. IPhone probably blocks these in its browser but not all Android browsers do.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2

 

[poshbird87]

There are a bunch of popular ones, such as AVG, Avast, Lookout, Kaspersky, TrendMicro, etc.

But it sounds to me like you didn't get a virus but rather were the target of a couple of very obnoxious ads. IPhone probably blocks these in its browser but not all Android browsers do.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2

Yes, a forum poster on another forum I posted this query said the same thing. Is there such thing as a decent Pop Up Ad Blocker app? I will still download a virus scan app just in case.

Thanks for everyone's replies so far

P.S. Whilst I have you here, how do I make sure that all my contacts, calendar notes, etc are stored online in case I ever need to do a reboot/factory re-set? I've signed up to everything on this phone via my gmail account, but don't know where to look (i.e On my gmail account, my Google+ account, or another one??) to make sure they've synced online. If there's a kind of *****'s Guide on tis forum about it, please point me in the direction of it! Or, perhaps someone can quickly explain it to me in layman's terms?

EDIT: Woah!! The word eeediot is censored? Haha! Why?!

 

[Dave-in-Decatur]

(1) You may not have a virus, as mrsmumbles says. Running a scan still might be a good idea, if only for the peace of mind. But if it's only happening in Chrome, try using the stock browser app (it's just called Internet, and the icon is a globe). If you can browse OK there, then see if you can go back to Chrome and find a setting to block popups.

(2) Since you've registered your Gmail account on the phone, you're all set to synchronize those pieces of data. Make sure that synchronizing is turned on: from the Home screen, press the menu button, then Settings. Tap the Accounts tab, then Google, then your Gmail address. Make sure that everything you want to sync is marked there (and everything you don't want to sync is unmarked). Just for fun, tap Sync now and watch the little wheels go round as the items sync. To check on it, on your computer go to Google (I'm not on Google+, so I don't know if you can do this there, but you might), log in, then go to Gmail to check on the contacts, to Calendar (accessible these days via the little block of squares in the upper right of the Google window) to check on calendar items, etc.

Welcome to Android, and to the forum! Have fun exploring your phone.

 

[msavic6]

I too have seen those pathetic pop up ads and I just choose not to visit those websites anymore. A well known and popular website will 97% of the time never show those kinds of adverts. The only website which has consistently shown these kinds of ads to me is AndroidAuthority so I avoid the webpage and instead added it to me news reader.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

 

[poshbird87]

(1) You may not have a virus, as mrsmumbles says. Running a scan still might be a good idea, if only for the peace of mind. But if it's only happening in Chrome, try using the stock browser app (it's just called Internet, and the icon is a globe). If you can browse OK there, then see if you can go back to Chrome and find a setting to block popups.

(2) Since you've registered your Gmail account on the phone, you're all set to synchronize those pieces of data. Make sure that synchronizing is turned on: from the Home screen, press the menu button, then Settings. Tap the Accounts tab, then Google, then your Gmail address. Make sure that everything you want to sync is marked there (and everything you don't want to sync is unmarked). Just for fun, tap Sync now and watch the little wheels go round as the items sync. To check on it, on your computer go to Google (I'm not on Google+, so I don't know if you can do this there, but you might), log in, then go to Gmail to check on the contacts, to Calendar (accessible these days via the little block of squares in the upper right of the Google window) to check on calendar items, etc.

Welcome to Android, and to the forum! Have fun exploring your phone.

Thanks so much for your instructions! Really helped me out

Also, just another quick one- No, two! I have two more quick questions:

1) Is there such a way to do a quick-scroll to the top of the page. On the iPhone, you'd just have to tap the highest point of the screen and it would quickly scroll to the top of the page. Promise I won't b!tch and do a "OH! WELL! THE IPHONE HAS THAT FUNCTION!" if the Galaxy S4 doesn't have a function like that, haha

2) Why are there no back and forward buttons on any of the Internet apps? (I'm using Dolphin now after reading lots of recommendations) I understand that the back button-button (as in, the physical button to the right of the Home button) can take you back, but what if I need to go forward again?

 

[troshs]

As for the second question, I can answer that. Just tap your physical menu button while in your browser and there is an arrow in the top of the menu. That is your forward. I currently dont know of any way to quick scroll, if someone does I would also be interested in that answer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[Dave-in-Decatur]

There's no function to scroll instantly to the top (or bottom) of the screen. A flick of the scroll bar up or down will get it moving quickly, but I agree that it would be good to have such a function.

Both that and the back and forward buttons are available in the mobile version of the browser Opera. I use the Classic version, 12.1.6, and when scrolling through long Web pages a button appears on the right with an up or down arrow to take you instantly to the top or bottom. It also has forward, back, and refresh buttons.