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Does Firefox have a security alert popup or is this a disguised ad for a vendor's security software?

  • 5 cavab
  • 14 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Xircal

RTCG
RTCG
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My McAfee software full scan shows no viruses, yet I got a popup in Firefox with the title "Firefox security alert." The popup said my computer has 97 infected objects. The list includes 5 viruses, including one Trojan. There is a Start Protection button. Is this popup from Firefox or is it a disguised ad for some security sw vendor? I did another full scan with McAfee which showed no viruses. Does Firefox scan the users files for viruses???? The popup indicates it was a "quick scan," not a full scan. Is McAfee (which updates on my computer daily) the problem? Or is my laptop affected by "numerous virus attacks" as the popup states. I did not want to press the Start Protection button, since no SW company other than Firefox is mentioned in the popup.

My McAfee software full scan shows no viruses, yet I got a popup in Firefox with the title "Firefox security alert." The popup said my computer has 97 infected objects. The list includes 5 viruses, including one Trojan. There is a Start Protection button. Is this popup from Firefox or is it a disguised ad for some security sw vendor? I did another full scan with McAfee which showed no viruses. Does Firefox scan the users files for viruses???? The popup indicates it was a "quick scan," not a full scan. Is McAfee (which updates on my computer daily) the problem? Or is my laptop affected by "numerous virus attacks" as the popup states. I did not want to press the Start Protection button, since no SW company other than Firefox is mentioned in the popup.

All Replies (5)

TonyE
TonyE
  • Moderator
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That is not from Mozilla, Firefox does not scan for viruses or malware. This will be a scam that is trying to get you to install some form of malware/virus.

RTCG
RTCG Question owner
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Thanks! Glad I didn't take the bait!

mary_g
mary_g
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When this pops up, don't click on anything on the popup including the red x to close it. Shut down the browser. Clicking on anything, close button or red x in upper right corner will only open the program to download a virus, trojan, malware. Trust me on this one. Experience is a rough teacher.

RTCG
RTCG Question owner
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Thanks, but too late. I did, I think, click on the X. A McAfee scan afterward did not pick up any malware, but no antivirus SW is 100% effective. My computer is running slow, so I may have to run some utilities on it.

Xircal
Xircal
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This is what's known as 'Scareware' i.e. a program which purports to show your system is infected with malware and offers to help you remove it for a fee.

It's probably the one you can see on this site which goes under various names depending on the operating system its aimed at: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-win-7-antispyware-2011

Follow instructions on that site to remove it.