Website wouldn't let me close, shut down, took over mac

[AceC]

I was just on what seemed to be a reputable website, when it suddenly popped up something which appeared to be due to a virus.. I panicked, but I remember it mentioned banking and facebook details.. I think it said something about the government as well.. It seemed like it mentioned my IP and ISP also.. I'd like to see it again for details, but I'm afraid to visit that website again.

It wouldn't let me close my browser, or even shut down the mac.. I just held the power button, and then powered it up again, and it appears to be fine. I think it was just the popup notification window that prevented it..

So, could I have a virus? How can I tell if there are any issues or if someone is viewing my activity? Please help..

 

[justywusty]

It's likely just a website that tried to scare you into giving them your credit card info, and hijacked the browser to prevent you from being able to close it.

 

[AceC]

It's likely just a website that tried to scare you into giving them your credit card info, and hijacked the browser to prevent you from being able to close it.

That's what I was thinking and hoping.. However, would hijacking the browser prevent me from being able to shut down?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

 

[justywusty]

That's what I was thinking and hoping.. However, would hijacking the browser prevent me from being able to shut down?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

Sure...the computer has to shut down all programs before it can shut down so if the browser was locked it couldn't close it.

There's probably a free antivirus program you could download on the App Store.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Next time see if you can get to the Apple Menu and select "Force Quit..." and shut down the browser that way.

 

[MRxROBOT]

Hold option and secondary click over the Safari dock icon, it will give you the option to force quit the application next time.

 

[snaky69]

I was just on what seemed to be a reputable website, when it suddenly popped up something which appeared to be due to a virus.. I panicked, but I remember it mentioned banking and facebook details.. I think it said something about the government as well.. It seemed like it mentioned my IP and ISP also.. I'd like to see it again for details, but I'm afraid to visit that website again.

It wouldn't let me close my browser, or even shut down the mac.. I just held the power button, and then powered it up again, and it appears to be fine. I think it was just the popup notification window that prevented it..

So, could I have a virus? How can I tell if there are any issues or if someone is viewing my activity? Please help..

You probably simply got a popup trying to scare you into giving them money to "fix" your computer. They'll usually hijack the browser to prevent you from closing the window.

Nothing to worry about, just force quit safari and get on your merry way.

 

[jerryk]

I agree with the others. It probably was just a script that was scaring you.

These can lock up the system pretty well. If need be you can always hold down the power button for a few seconds. That will reboot the system.

 

[JohnDS]

Instead of force-quitting Safari, going into the Safari prefs under Security and turning off JavaScript will usually allow you to close the offending tab.

 

[jlc1978]

You probably also want to clear Safari's history and cache so when it reopens it doesn't auto - load the offending site and start the process all over.