When you think of viruses, you probably imagine stealthy software that goes to great lengths to remain unnoticed. You almost certainly don’t think of malware that announces its presence with a ‘you have a virus’ popup. Well, there are some viruses that do just that.
Given that over 190K Android viruses are developed each month, don’t be surprised if one day you see a virus alert on your phone. However, watch out for a fake virus warning popup that tries to deceive you into installing malware. Keep reading to learn more about this Android virus message and how to get rid of it.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to protect your Android from viruses, you may eventually see a virus warning pop up on your Android device. Unfortunately, when you really have a virus on your Android device, you won’t see any warnings unless you’re running antivirus software.
The Virus Warning Pop-Up on Android
In most cases, Android users only see a fake virus warning pop-up when using the web browser to visit a malicious website.The pop-up window warns you that your Android is infected with a virus and invites you to tap a button to run a scan and remove the software from your device.
The most important thing you can do is not tap any button on the website.If the virus warning pop-up on your Android appeared outside of the web browser, it’s possible that the browser itself was infected with a malicious add-on that needs to be removed. The good news is your Android likely isn’t infected by any virus yet, so long as you haven’t tapped any button on the website.
Removing a Fake Virus Warning Pop-Up on Android
Removing the malicious browser code that launched the pop-up window is easy. It’s possible that you won’t be able to close the antivirus pop-up window. Don’t worry about that for now; close all of the browser windows. Go to your Android Settings and tap to open Apps.
Next, scroll down to the browser you were using just before seeing the fake virus warning pop-up. Tap that app to open its settings.
You’ll see two buttons at the top of the App window. Select Force Stop to force the browser application to stop running.
You may see a warning pop-up that if you force stop the application, it’ll misbehave. This won’t be a concern in this case. Just select the OK button.
Once the cache is fully cleared, you’ll see the memory usage on the right drop to 0 MB.
Now that you’ve stopped the browser and cleared the cache, the fake virus pop-up window should be gone.
Also, read: How to sign out of iMessages on Mac
How to stop a fake virus warning on Android?
Under no circumstances should you tap a suspicious Google Android virus alert. Even more important, never enter your credit card data in a pop-up window as real antiviruses don’t charge for the removal of a single virus. Instead, follow these steps to remove Android virus notifications.
Reboot your phone in the safe mode
By restarting your Android phone in the safe mode, you can stop a rogue app responsible for the fake virus warning from running in the background.
How to stop virus warning pop-ups on Android phones:
- Press and hold the power button
- Tap and hold the Power off option
- In a dialog window, tap OK
Once in the safe mode, check if the pop-up issue persists. If the virus warnings have disappeared, then third-party apps are most likely to blame.
Delete suspicious apps
The annoying virus alerts can be caused by third-party apps. Go through your app list and delete any you don’t remember installing or those you’ve only recently installed.
- Find a suspicious app
- Tap and hold the app icon
- In a dialog window, select the Uninstall option
Disable administrator privileges for malicious apps
Some rogue apps cannot be deleted. To remove them, you need to disable their administrator privileges. It goes like this:
- In the Settings, go to Security
- Tap Device Administrators
- Uncheck a box next to the suspicious app
- In a dialog window, tap Deactivate this device administrator
Perform a factory reset
If none of the above steps help to get rid of security warnings on Android, then you will need to perform a factory reset. Note, however, that it will also remove all your photos, videos, and any other data you have on your phone.
- In the Settings, go to Backup & reset
- Select Factory data reset and tap Reset phone
- Enter your password and tap Erase everything
Block Pop-Ups in Your Android Browser
Even though you’ve shut down the fake virus pop-up window, there may still be settings in your browser that will allow the fake virus pop-up to appear again. Take the following steps to prevent this from happening again.
- Tap the arrow at the upper right of the Chrome browser window. If you see that a new chrome update is available, select Update Chrome to initiate the update. This will ensure you have the latest version and all of the latest security patches.
- Back in the Chrome menu, scroll down and tap Settings.
- In the Settings menu, scroll down and tap Site settings.
- In the Site settings menu, scroll down to Pop-ups and redirects and tap it.
- In the Pop-ups and redirects window, disable the selector so that the setting is set to Block sites from showing pop-ups and redirects (recommended).
- Go back to the Site settings window, and scroll down to Ads. Tap it to open the Ads window.
- In the Ads window, disable the selector so that the setting is set to Block ads on sites that show intrusive or misleading ads.
- Back in the Site settings window, scroll down to Automatic downloads and tap it.
- In the Automatic downloads window, enable the selector so that the setting is Ask first.
- Once you’ve finished updating all of these settings, your browser will be better protected from malicious websites that attempt to launch the fake virus warning pop-up on your Android.
Also, read: How to Delete Multiple Messages on Messenger
