Motorola XT1080 security alert -- scam or real?

[AC Question]

I just received a pop-up notification with a Google header, informing me that "your browser is heavily damaged by (4) virus!" It went on to say that these viruses -- supposedly from "recent adult sites" (which is suspicious right there, because I've never visited an adult site on my android) -- will "damage your phone's SIM card and will corrupt your contacts, data, applications, etc." Then I was asked to install an update from Google Play, which I did not do. (All this is coming from a site called "www.rareclick.xyz", by the way.) When I attempted to back-button out of this, I kept getting additional dire-warning pop-ups, and finally was taken to a page where I was asked to install an app called "Antivirus AppLock" from a company called GO Security. So I guess my ultimate question is: WTF? Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

 

[dpham00]

Probably some malicious content on the website or app. I would recommend backing up any important data and do a factory data reset and don't install any apps to see if you still have the same.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Does this only appear when you're browsing? If so, you can always exit the browser by tapping the Home button (or the Recent Apps button, then swipe away the browser window). Then go to Settings>Apps​, select your browser, and Clear Cache/Clear Data, then Force Stop. Now open the browser again and see if the popups recur. If not, then you should be ok--just avoid that website (and similar sites) in the future.

 

[belodion]

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=695596

 

[swtsun]

I am getting the same message on my LG G3 when I use both Chrome and Firefox and on different internet sites. I just cleared the data/cache and did a force stop on both. Tried it again and my new message is, "We has detected that your LG G3 is 28.1% DAMAGED because of battery over usage and lack of fully recharge. It caused serious damage to your LG G3 phone battery." Then it proceeds to tell me to install repair from Google Play. Do I have a virus on my phone?? How do I get rid of it??

 

[belodion]

I am getting the same message on my LG G3 when I use both Chrome and Firefox and on different internet sites. I just cleared the data/cache and did a force stop on both. Tried it again and my new message is, "We has detected that your LG G3 is 28.1% DAMAGED because of battery over usage and lack of fully recharge. It caused serious damage to your LG G3 phone battery." Then it proceeds to tell me to install repair from Google Play. Do I have a virus on my phone?? How do I get rid of it??

Welcome.

Open the link in my post above yours. Use Safe Mode as a diagnostic. If the problem stops, exit Safe Mode and uninstall suspect apps, starting with those installed just before the trouble started.