Weird pop-up on my phone-help needed, please!

[Ste11aeres]

So, I was checking the weather on my phone, and there was a link to something at the top, and I clicked on it, and something popped up which said: 'Warning, a virus has been found on your phone'. It asked me to push a button to allow a scan.
It seemed really weird to me, so I just got rid of the pop-up, without asking for any scan.

Did I make the right decision?

Also, if anyone asks, it wasn't clear what app/program or whatever exactly was supposed to do the scan, nor what company it was from, etc, etc. That was the part that seemed weird. I just didn't know if the pop up was from my own phone, or from the website itself.

Thoughts? Advice? Should I use something that I know is legitimate to search for viruses? If so, what?
My phone is an iphone 4, by the way.
Anyone here probably knows more about this than I do.

 

[Mia]

It's a good thing that you didn't follow the advert/app link, you likely did the exact right thing.

http://www.androidauthority.com/mobile-scareware-ads-338182/

http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/android-tapsnake-mobile-scareware-ads-push-antivirus

 

[Kari Suttle]

Unless you have a security app on your phone, it was a fake from the website itself. I'm not a techie but to my knowledge, phones don't have any sort of built in security for that sort of thing. Its a good thing you didn't click it - those types of things try to trick you into allowing it to give you a virus. Now, you can get a security app for your phone if this sort of thing bothers you - i know for a fact norton has one but i don't know how good it is. It will protect against such things and scan any apps before you download them to make sure they're safe. When i get myself a new iphone for x-mas, i'm gonna get one. Some can also be used in a similar way to the 'find my iphone' app in case of theft. The only downside is that they require a paid subscription just like computer security programs do.

 

[Judge]

Be very careful about the precise domains you bookmark. Whether they are legitimate or phishing websites. Apparently in some circumstances they might be a little of both. Confusing by design.

Apart from deliberate malware distribution, some software security businesses can be quite aggressive and unscrupulous in attempting to get your business. Even to the point of piggy-backing such aggressiveness through legitimate websites. At times it can be confusing to users as to whether it's a legitimate warning or just a marketing ploy. Or worse, a hacker's invitation.

Aside from running proper security in resident memory, find another legitimate domain to check your weather.