Beware Whats App

[colly]

After my pal got scammed by an online trick I have only gone and 'somehow' got a bug/virus/don't know what onto my phone just now.
My daughter sent me an image via What'sApp and somehow it brought in a bit of trickery which opens up a page in the browser telling me I need to download a 'fix' for my phone. Naturally I didn't download anything but going back into the browser the only page I could get was
'Hola Launcher' then a load more pages came up........... 'monetization'.................'phone alerts'.....................'reward alerts' none of which I can shut down.
I've not clicked any of them just in case.

Before that however, before I was using the net (and my son has told me he has this message too) I had a weird pop up on my screen telling me my whatsapp licence was being extended for life.


The phone web connection is off now but just in case ,watch out for What's App.

 

[cosmicbike]

Funny I've been getting the extended for life messages tonight too. Ta for the heads up

 

[marknotgeorge]

Whatsapp is now free.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/18/10785126/whatsapp-free-no-subscription-fees

 

[steve50]

I currently have an alert on my phone telling me whatsapp service extended, new expiration date is lifetime. i will be sure not to click on it, in fact I think I will uninstall whatsapp. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[vernon]

I currently have an alert on my phone telling me whatsapp service extended, new expiration date is lifetime. i will be sure not to click on it, in fact I think I will uninstall whatsapp. Thanks for the heads up.

The warning/alert is probably genuine in light of the service becoming free as of yesterday.

 

[steve50]

The warning/alert is probably genuine in light of the service becoming free as of yesterday.

thanks, I got a "message recieved" alert from whatsapp last night, when I checked it was offering me an update for whatsapp which I dismissed, glad I did now. Incidentally I have never paid for whatsapp.

 

[Markymark]

Just ckear your browser. No big deal. Not a virus. Just a little browser trickery.

 

[colly]

Deleted What's App. Turned the wi fi and mobile data off on the phone and I deleted all the history.
The second it's connected back to the net it happens again.

globalmsmtrakk06a.com is the thing that seems to be coming up all the time.

 

[steve50]

@colly can you back up your phone to a computer then do a hard reset of the phone. Alternatively you could (if android) download avast anti virus and scan your phone. Personally i would back up and reset the phone..
https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-android-virus/

 

[martint235]

Deleted What's App. Turned the wi fi and mobile data off on the phone and I deleted all the history.
The second it's connected back to the net it happens again.

globalmsmtrakk06a.com is the thing that seems to be coming up all the time.

Go to the application manager and force stop the browser application. Then clear user data and the cache. If that doesn't work, uninstall the browser and re-install. Clear data and cache again before opening the browser. If that doesn't work, I'm afraid you're on a reset phone trip.

 

[Jody]

Had a couple of things like this on my phone. Download AVG and it should remove it.

 

[colly]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look at it when I have time later or tomorrow.
TBH I don't use my phone very much for web stuff and could well manage by simply not using it for online stuff but I'd prefer to have it free of anything untoward

 

[marknotgeorge]

ISTR an option in Settings on Android devices to prevent it installing apps from anywhere other than the Google Play store. Is this turned off?

I might be on the wrong track, though, as I currently have no Android stuff.

 

[SquareDaff]

ISTR an option in Settings on Android devices to prevent it installing apps from anywhere other than the Google Play store. Is this turned off?

I might be on the wrong track, though, as I currently have no Android stuff.

I think there's an option which displays a warning asking if you wish to continue.....not sure if theres an option to prevent it though.

 

[martint235]

ISTR an option in Settings on Android devices to prevent it installing apps from anywhere other than the Google Play store. Is this turned off?

I might be on the wrong track, though, as I currently have no Android stuff.

It's the other way round. You have to tick a box in settings to say that you will allow applications from other sources. By default this is set to unchecked (ie no).