I've gotten a message saying there was a virus on my computer when I tried downloading it. It looked like it was a scam though. But, my friends tell me there IS a virus on forge. Could someone please clear that up for me? Thanks.

No, there is no virus on Forge.

But the Forge installer is a JAR on Mac, on Windows it's an EXE. Both are executable, so some Antivirus-programs mistake it with a virus.

If you use Avira Antivirus, then deinstall and use some good like Avast. I used Avira and it tried to delete files. I deinstalled it, because it said I had no permission to delete a folder on my desktop, and it refused to let me install Minecraft. I deleted it, then everything worked fine. But sometimes, hackers write viruses in Java. I will explain that: the .minecraft folder is in the folder AppData, and this folder is probably hidden, so you can't delete files without some programs wouldn't work correctly. Forge installs files in .minecraft, so some Antiviruses might think it tries to install malicious code. But I've used Forge for over a yeas, and I never had safety issues or something like that.

Best regards,

SprengMeister02

Forge itself is safe, but there is a few scareware ads on the webs which apparently gotten onto AdFoc.us

 

When you encounter a page looking like a fake blue-screen or virus scan, the safest thing to do is to leave immediately with the "close tab" shortcut for your browser. If it brings up a prompt box, be extra cautious. Some scareware has fake prompt boxes where every option, even close, would download the virus.

When in doubt, ctrl+shift+esc to open Task Manager and "End Task" your browser from there.

 

A real antivirus service my techie father recommends is ESET, but it isn't free.