Today I was just browsing through various websites using Chrome on my iPhone – and nothing questionable by any means – when I suddenly received a “Security Breach Detected” popup message claiming to be from Apple.
Today I was just browsing through various websites using Chrome on my iPhone – and nothing questionable by any means – when I suddenly received a “Security Breach Detected” popup message claiming to be from Apple.
i knew right away that it was a hoax, because when I clicked OK it popped right back up. I did that a few times and then tapped “Suppress Dialogs” and it STILL continued to pop up.
Now I was 100% sure that it was NOT Apple behind the popup, but rather a rogue javascript trying to scam me.
Here’s what the popup looks like:
I’m sure if I called the number I’d end up with someone trying to sell me an app to remove the popup, which is exactly how malware works.
Here’s how to remove the popup on Chrome, running on an iPhone:
1. Double-tap the Home button and swipe Chrome to the side to close it.
2. Press and hold the Chrome app icon until it goes into edit mode, and then delete the app. Yes, the only way you can remove this pesky dialog is to delete the Chrome app and then re-install it after restarting your iPhone.
3. Restart your iPhone and re-install Chrome from the App Store.
If you get a message like the one shown above – rest assured you do NOT have a virus… and are not going to jail.
Take a deep breath and do not call the number and do not pay anyone any money to remove the popup. Just follow the instructions above and you’ll be back in business in no time.