I freaked out a bit after searching for "Doja Cat merch" and clicking on what I thought was her official UK store. Suddenly, I got redirected to a casino site after going through several other random webpages, including one that said "anime99.com". Now, my browser shows a different site called "effortblend.co", but my history doesn't show these random sites at all. I'm really anxious about this—just wanted to buy a CD and now I'm worried my phone might have a virus. Is this something I should be concerned about?
2 Answers
You might just have clicked on a sponsored link that looked legit but redirected you to something else. If this was a one-time thing, it’s probably not a virus. But if this happens often, it’s a good idea to run a virus scan, like Malwarebytes, just to be safe.
I would suggest closing all those tabs you opened. If you’re using Chrome and are concerned, consider switching to Firefox and installing an ad blocker like uBlock Origin. It's great for blocking unwanted ad redirects like this!
I just use normal Chrome. Do you think my phone will be okay? I know I'm overreacting but this is stressing me out.