BBB warns of pop-up phone scams

BALTIMORE —The Better Business Bureau of Maryland is about a pop-up that might have appeared on smartphones, telling people to download an app that could cause big problems.

Pop-ups are a scam that try to trick people in to handing over information, and while it's made the rounds before, BBB officials said it seems to have made a resurgence.

The messages pop up while surfing the internet. The message says tells the phone user they have been engaged in some activity, like visiting adult websites, but that their phone is now infected with viruses and the "browser is seriously damaged."

The point is to catch people by surprise and lure them into a quick-fix.

People may say, "'I need my iPhone to work. I better do what it says.' So it definitely gets your attention," said Jody Thomas with the BBB of Maryland.

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