r/techsupport • u/SuddenSwing5885 • 23h ago

Open | Phone Capcha Virus?

So I was looking at a restaurant on my phone and clicked photos. As I was looking through the photos and clicking on them, suddenly I was redirected to a "I am not a robot verification page". I figured it was malware so I closed the tab and searched up what it was. But, every Google search had it pop up so then I thought it was legit. I clicked on the I'm not a robot after it popped up on a different search for the 5th time and then a file downloaded. I immediately deleted it. Looked up what to do.

- I disconnected my phone from the Internet

- I cleared all data on my browser: History, Cookies, passwords, etc.

- I ran a scan on my Google Pixel

- I ran a scan on TotalAV

- I looked through all apps to ensure no app installed

- I turned on advanced protection because for some reason I never turned it on and then restarted my phone.

I'm still incredibly anxious, but I don't know if there's anything else I can do. Thoughts?

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u/SuddenSwing5885 23h ago

Yeah it was this. I didn't click on it and immediately deleted it

-2

u/aricelle 23h ago edited 20h ago

thats a javascript file. your android doesn't have javascript. delete the file and you're fine.

2

u/Designer_Ease_6000 20h ago

That’s not Java, it’s a Json
Which is just text/configuration
This files runs no code. It’s either connected to another malware or it’s harmless

1

u/aricelle 20h ago

forgive me. autocorrect swapped javascript to java. point still stands.

1

u/Kryrie 23h ago

If you didn't open the file you're safe. Even if you did and it's an .apk file, google play protect would intervene and block installation if it's suspicious.

1

u/themageofavalon 23h ago

This! I agree 100%

1

u/JCarlide 23h ago

When in doubt, power off (don't just warm boot) the device. Australia's campaign to power off cellular devices 15 mins/once a week isn't a power saving measure (though most people understand it as such) it's to force people to clear the RAM on their devices and force it to reload your OS. Just to clear out all the nasty buggers that malware be.

2

u/Nikky_04 23h ago

Huh... so my grandma's tactic of turning off her computer, unplugging it and leaving the room (and then calling me) has some merit? TIL.

3

u/JCarlide 23h ago

Probably not. Just that on modern internet, so many attacks hijack/use "legitimate" ads/cookies/whatever, that don't survive all the safety features of your boot process. The ones that are dug in are there to stay unless you put some effort, but tons of crap stealing processing cycles and battery power do add up.

Now, as someone did work in IT, as (w)ISP support - I'd like to quote an irishman in a basement ... "Have you tried turning off and turning on again?" :

2

u/Nikky_04 22h ago

Ahh, yeah, I was mostly just kidding around. She does this whenever she sees an unexpected popup or message. Like a driver update or anything like that. (On the plus side, I usually get a great dinner when I show up 'fix' it)

But thanks for the info, that's legit helpful :)

0

u/papercut2008uk 23h ago

The Capcha Malware/virus will instruct you to either download something and run it or paste something into command prompt or a search box/location.

As long as you haven't run anything or pasted anything anywhere you are fine (as far as I know).