I apologize in advance for the long post. Just want to make sure I add any necessary detail. I own a Dell Latitude 5510, and up until yesterday, I had no issues with malware. I never received pop-ups, and I am usually very good about steering clear of suspicious material. However, today, I assumed that a particular website was safe (it was a family member’s website that I wanted to check out). It wanted me to verify that I was not a robot, and I complied with its requests. Next thing I know, I’m receiving notifications from the notification center (bottom right) in quick succession. I would say, in the span of around 11 hours, I have received over 15 virus warnings (and I was not using my laptop during the entire duration). They pop up on my notifications tab every time I power up my laptop.

Though at first I was fearful that they were genuine, I do believe they are fake warnings. I have not interacted with any of them, and I clear them from my notifications every time they appear. But I have taken photos for reference. Unfortunately, I can not attach images, so I will try to explain the warnings as best I can. They come with the McAfee logo attached, they have a panicked tonality (ex: your system is infected!), there are images attached that come with fake “x” buttons in the top right, spelling errors, etc. Also, aside from the notifications, nothing else is different about my laptop. I have not been redirected, receiving emails, having files get deleted (at least that I know of). But I’ve heard that Malware can sometimes be sneaky and fly under the radar, so I want to be completely sure (as I do have private information on my device that I do not want others having access to).

My laptop comes with Malwarebyte, and I’ve used this to scan my device for viruses. It says there is nothing. However, I am still concerned, as I never received these pop ups before, and suddenly, I am getting them very frequently. My mousepad can be faulty or sensitive sometimes, and I don’t want to accidentally click on a pop-up and risk damage. I also just want to make sure that my device is actually virus or hacker free. The fact that I’m even receiving pop-ups now is different from what I’m used to, and insinuates that at least something has access to my computer now. Also, I have tried numerous things to get rid of them, to no avail. I downloaded uBlock Origin and cleared my browsing data. I am working towards scheduling a meeting with a member of the IT department at my university, but I also wanted to rely on Reddit just in case the IT department is uncertain as to a solution. If anyone has experienced this or would know how to get rid of these notifications/make sure that I am not infected, I would love the support! Thank you for your patience reading through this.