Is it possible to infect a phone by opening a link in Chrome?

[raconda599]

Hi all. I'm new here and I would really appreciate some guidance. I was browsing on Tumblr in Google Chrome and when I clicked on a user's profile it redirected me to a website that said my phone has a virus and it caused my phone to vibrate. I panicked and closed the app immediately, then I proceeded to disable Chrome. It was in an incognito tab and after I reenabled Chrome the issue was fixed. I scanned my phone for malware from the settings (I have the new Samsung Galaxy A5 so I used the default Knox Security Scan) but because Chrome is a default app it wasn't scanned at all. I am sceptical about the whole situation because I don't know what happened, how it happened and if there is stuff going on in the background that I am unaware of. Help!

P.S. Just to clarify I have not downloaded anything.

TL;DR - Opened a Tumblr profile and redirect caused phone to vibrate and it said I had a virus. Is my phone Ok?

 

[belodion]

Welcome.

See this: https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=630081

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Those kinds of popups are always browser popups designed to scare you into installing some bogus "antivirus" app that is probably itself malicious. Never tap anything in those popups. If you're in the browser, you can always get out of that screen by tapping the Recent Apps button, then swiping away that app.

Was that profile URL also start with tumblr.com, or was it something else?

 

[raconda599]

I'm afraid I can't tell you. I panicked and I closed the page immediately so I didn't really have a chance to see what was on my screen.

 

[B. Diddy]

Don't be too worried. Those popups don't do anything directly -- the damage is done if you actually tap on the link and then agree to install whatever gets downloaded.

 

[MaddiCat]

Mine was a link I was reading in FB so will follow the instructions given for going to my computer. Scare me?! You bet!!! Thanks androidcentral!!!