Clicked on a scammy Facebook link. Now what?
June 12, 2024 11:46 AM Subscribe
I have an Apple iPhone SE. A Facebook friend seemed to post a link to a video about a horrible traffic accident. I tapped on that link but didn't otherwise interact with the resulting page. Am I OK?
When I tapped on the link, a page came up saying that I had lost my wireless network signal. It showed a big image of the standard WiFi logo (the one with the concentric arcs). Within a second or so, I realized my mistake and immediately closed the app on my phone. This all happened so quickly that I don't remember what other text might have been on that page.
That was yesterday, and I haven't noticed anything unusual since then. Am I OK, or is there a chance that I infected my phone with malware? From what I can tell based on a quick Google search, the scammers want to trick you into entering your login credentials. I never logged into anything.
Should I change my passwords anyway? That's a huge hassle, but I can do it if necessary.
When I tapped on the link, a page came up saying that I had lost my wireless network signal. It showed a big image of the standard WiFi logo (the one with the concentric arcs). Within a second or so, I realized my mistake and immediately closed the app on my phone. This all happened so quickly that I don't remember what other text might have been on that page.
That was yesterday, and I haven't noticed anything unusual since then. Am I OK, or is there a chance that I infected my phone with malware? From what I can tell based on a quick Google search, the scammers want to trick you into entering your login credentials. I never logged into anything.
Should I change my passwords anyway? That's a huge hassle, but I can do it if necessary.
Best answer: Agreeing with Tomorrowful. Did the link open in Safari or Facebook? The only other thing I would do is make sure to force close whichever one it was. iOS keeps apps running in the background even after you close them. Let us know if you need to know how to force close an app.
posted by soelo at 12:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by soelo at 12:07 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I don't know if the link opened in Facebook or Safari. The link was very long, and it looked like a regular URL, so it was probably Safari. I restarted the whole phone, but that was a couple of hours after the incident.
posted by akk2014 at 12:13 PM on June 12, 2024
posted by akk2014 at 12:13 PM on June 12, 2024
Best answer: Restarting will have removed any trace from your phone. You're fine.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:04 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:04 PM on June 12, 2024 [1 favorite]
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posted by Tomorrowful at 11:47 AM on June 12, 2024 [4 favorites]