Snapchat virus 2021 – how to remove

Snapchat virus is a term that describes malicious activities related to the popular multimedia messaging app Snapchat. That includes malicious links sent on the platform’s messaging service, phishing attempts, fake Snapchat apps, etc. Because of how widespread Snapchat viruses can be, it’s important to be familiar with them.

Types of Snapchat viruses and phishing attempts

Malicious links in messages.

One of the oldest tricks in the books to spread malware via social media is hijacking accounts and sending malicious links to contacts. If you have any kind of messaging app like Skype, or social media service like Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat, you must have received malicious messages from people in your contacts at least once. We’re talking about the classic “You are in this video” followed by a link to the supposed video. The same kind of messages can include texts like “Is this you in the photo/video”, “This is a video of you”, or “Is this you?!”. These messages are often sent from legitimate accounts and always contain a link to some questionable website.

If you have ever received such a message, it was likely sent by someone who’s in your contact/friend’s list. This is possible because malicious actors hijack social media and messaging service accounts and send the links to all the people in the list of contacts/friends. If you were to click on the link, you’d likely be led to a site that asks you to log in to your account in order to “view” the content that’s been sent to you. However, instead of logging in, you’d be giving away your login credentials to malicious actors. Alternatively, those links could lead to sites asking you to install something, such as a fake Flash Player update. Only instead of an update, you’d end up with malware.

It’s very easy to avoid falling for these scams because they’re very obvious as the messages that are sent along with the links are always very generic. So if you receive a random link from a random person in your contacts, don’t click on it. You can always double check with the sender about what it is if you think it could be legitimate.

Fake Snapchat apps.

There is a very good reason for why users are only recommended to download apps from official stores like Google Play or the Apple App Store. Official app stores are very strictly regulated in order to keep the risk of downloading malicious apps to a minimum. It is possible for potential threats to slip past, as evident from the numerous times it has happened on Google Play, but it’s much safer to download from those rather than third-party app stores. Third-party app stores you can find on the Internet will rarely have security on par with that of Google or Apple, which allows developers to easily upload malicious apps including fake Snapchat apps or other imitations. Those apps could cause harm to the device and expose to highly unreliable content. And downloading a fake social media app could lead to successful phishing and stolen accounts.

This is more applicable to Android devices, as iPhone users cannot download apps that don’t come from Apple’s App Store, unless they have a jailbroken iPhone. But in any case, users should stick to official app stores instead of third-party ones to be safe.

Phishing.

Snapchat users, just like anyone else using social media, are often targets of phishing attacks. Phishing come come in different forms, such as emails, social media messages, etc. Most commonly, malicious actors attempt to phish users via email. An example of a Snapchat phishing email may be you receiving an email, supposedly from Snapchat, about issues with your account. The email may explain that there’s something wrong and that you need to click on the provided link to access your account to fix whatever is wrong. If you do click, you would be redirected to a website that’s imitating Snapchat and it would ask you to log in. Since it would be a phishing website, you’d be providing your login credentials to malicious actors. And we already mentioned that you can get phished by clicking on links in malicious Snapchat messages.

Fortunately, phishing emails can often be recognized pretty easily. Whenever you click on a link and are sent to website that asks you to log in, carefully check the site’s URL. If it doesn’t look right, it’s a phishing attempt.

Snapchat virus 2021 removal

Different Snapchat virus-related issues require different solutions. If you have fallen for a Snapchat phishing attempt, you need to change your password immediately. Make sure that the password is unique and difficult to guess. Furthermore, enable two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of protection to your account. This will prevent anyone, even those who know your password, from being able to access your account. If possible, enable two-factor authentication for all your accounts.

If you have downloaded a fake Snapchat app onto your device, delete it immediately. If you typed in your login credentials, change your password as soon as possible. Check through your installed apps for anything you don’t recognize and if anything suspicious you don’t remember installing comes up, delete it. You can also scan your Android device with an anti-virus app to check for anything that shouldn’t be there. It would delete Snapchat virus if one was present on your device. You should also keep an eye on your device for a little while, looking for suspicious behaviour that could indicate an unwanted presence. Look out for random pop-ups and redirects when browsing, apps misbehaving, and unexplained quick battery drainage, as these are usually the signs that something’s not right.

If you have interacted with one of those malicious links sent to you from hijacked accounts, you need to secure your account immediately. Change your password, enable two-factor authentication, and check your linked devices. If someone has accessed your account, you can revoke that access by “forgetting a linked device”. To do that, open your Snapchat app, tap on your profile icon, then press on the gear icon, select Two factor authentication, and tap on Forget Devices. Review which devices have access to your account and click the X for ones you don’t recognize.