malware on android

LCPete

LCPete

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Had a bit of a nightmare with my Samsung s5
I was browsing the Web last night looking at xbox game websites when I had a banner popup appear which stopped me from using the net blocking the keypad
I was still able to use the phone normally for other things
It basically demanded £100 to unlock my phone
It said it was a fine for using dodgy sites (which I wasn't )
It was blocking the screen access after I pressed the icon to access the net
It was of course a scam I tried a few things to get rid of it but in the end had to do a hard reset which was a pain but all is well now
Didn't know that you could get malware on android I was running avast mobile security but that was useless
Anyway thought people could use the heads up
 
neil_g said:
i think on android you get a chrome process per tab like on desktop so you can get into process manager and bin them off until you kill the one with the popup.
Click to expand...
Thanks I did try that but it was blocking the tabs on the top of the screen too
I had to press the start button to get rid of it
 
ecoleman said:
Possibly not malware, just a pop up with JavaScript that prevented you from clicking anywhere other than the button to make the payment.
Click to expand...
Oh I see not sure where it came from but was relieved to get rid of it
 
I agree that this was not malware, although you can get malware on android through the store. The browser hijack scam has been doing the rounds for a long time. Shame to hear it's back after there were quite a few arrests last year.

If you can remember the site I would suggest you report it to the police such that they can crack down on this new gang doing it.
 
dejongj said:
I agree that this was not malware, although you can get malware on android through the store. The browser hijack scam has been doing the rounds for a long time. Shame to hear it's back after there were quite a few arrests last year.

If you can remember the site I would suggest you report it to the police such that they can crack down on this new gang doing it.
Click to expand...

Good point about reporting it to the police unfortunately I can't remember the details I should have taken photos of the screen

I didn't realise that you could get malware from the play store that's not good

My wife said that I should use my ipad for Web browsing as it's impossible to get malware or the hijack thing that happened to me on Apple but I'm sure that I read of a similar thing happening to apple users too
Am pleased that I managed to sort it but it was a pain to have to wipe the phone and reload everything
 
Are you sure it wasn't just a popup like suggested above? If the popup was the size of the screen it would prevent you clicking off it. Did you try simply force closing your browser before resetting your phone completely?
 
LCPete said:
My wife said that I should use my ipad for Web browsing as it's impossible to get malware or the hijack thing that happened to me on Apple but I'm sure that I read of a similar thing happening to apple users too
Am pleased that I managed to sort it but it was a pain to have to wipe the phone and reload everything
Click to expand...

Jailbroken devices can get malware, but your wife is right - the same thing cannot happen on iOS.
 
Malware not really, but the browser hijack is also possible on iOS.
 
Cannot believe that it's impossible to get malware on IOS? Any OS can be hacked surely?
 
stevelmx5 said:
Are you sure it wasn't just a popup like suggested above? If the popup was the size of the screen it would prevent you clicking off it. Did you try simply force closing your browser before resetting your phone completely?
Click to expand...

Yes you are right it was a pop up but it prevented me from using the net It covered all of the screen I was able to get out of it by pressing the home button
But it was still there even after clearing the browser history and turning phone off and on
I was only able to get rid of it by doing a hard reset which was a pain
 
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Mad Badger said:
Cannot believe that it's impossible to get malware on IOS? Any OS can be hacked surely?
Click to expand...
Ofcourse it can, and one or two have slipped through the net. However, when the distribution channel doesn't slip up and inspects the software on App Store properly then it is possible to keep it out.

As someone mentioned befor; if you jailbreak and get software from dodgy origin on it then you are no longer protected.
 
LCPete said:
Yes you are right it was a pop up but it prevented me from using the net It covered all of the screen I was able to get out of it by pressing the home button
But it was still there even after clearing the browser history and turning phone off and on
I was only able to get rid of it by doing a hard reset which was a pain
Click to expand...

If a pop up then you shouldn't have had to do a hard reset of your phone. If it happens again in the future, close down your browser using the home button then long press on your browser icon - choose "app info" and then select clear data. This will revert the browser back to its native state of using it for the first time.
 
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stupar said:
If a pop up then you shouldn't have had to do a hard reset of your phone. If it happens again in the future, close down your browser using the home button then long press on your browser icon - choose "app info" and then select clear data. This will revert the browser back to its native state of using it for the first time.
Click to expand...
Thanks:)
I will do that next time i didn't know about long pressing the icon
i did try to clear my history on the top right of the screen but the pop up blocked the top of the screen as soon as I pressed the Internet icon and couldn't find a way of doing that in settings
 
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Mad Badger said:
Cannot believe that it's impossible to get malware on IOS? Any OS can be hacked surely?
Click to expand...

Nothing is impossible, but it is very unlikely. Recovering from a browser hijack on iOS is simply a case of quitting safari and then clearing browser data in settings.
 
LCPete said:
Thanks I did try that but it was blocking the tabs on the top of the screen too
I had to press the start button to get rid of it
Click to expand...

sorry i meant in app manager not closing the tabs.

Andy Taylor said:
Nothing is impossible, but it is very unlikely. Recovering from a browser hijack on iOS is simply a case of quitting safari and then clearing browser data in settings.
Click to expand...
im not convinced the xcode issues on ios have been fully resolved personally.
 
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