Asking on behalf of someone. How can one get rid of constant pop-up ads on phone? The person did not know exactly what he downloaded or uploaded but since Monday, he has been getting pop-ups on his phone while using it as long as Mobile data is turned on.

Yesterday, I took a look at it and it was crazy! The pop-up ads come up every minute, some are videos of up to 50 seconds, After clearing one ad, another one comes up within 20 seconds. Very frustrating. I asked him what he has done so far. He said he has deleted almost every app on his phone. He scanned the phone using one of those default phone shield apps and it came up with nothing. I suggested we download an antivirus and run a proper scan. We settled on AVG and we ran a scan on the phone. It found one malware which we removed. We ran another scan and it came out clean. The phone started working smoothly afterwards.

Or so we thought

Today my husband called me that he called him on his way to work that the pop-up are back again, he scanned the phone using the antivirus and it came up with nothing. At this point I don't know what to do again apart from running a factory reset and he will lose valuable data.

I'm left with no choice but to ask our phone gurus here what else can be done to get rid of these annoying pop-up ads.

GAZZUZZ:
Wipe the phone , and start again.

Save and restore contacts and messages only.

Backup WhatsApp and restore .

By wiping the phone, it means restoring to factory settings right? I know that might be the last resort, I'm hoping there might be something else that can be done to resolve the issue

Expand the pop up, click on site settings and off the notification. Also clear and reset data of the site.

Goldsplash:
Expand the pop up, click on site settings and off the notification. Also clear and reset data of the site.

The ads take up the entire phone screen. I didn't see anything concerning the site settings on them.

dominique:


The ads take up the entire phone screen. I didn't see anything concerning the site settings on them.

A malware app was downloaded, clear the data of all recently downloaded apps but like someone advised factory reset will do the job too

So the only solution is to do a factory reset and erase all data?

Is there any strong antivirus one can install and run another malware scan? I told him some of these antivirus cost money, the AVG I downloaded has a premium version that one can buy and he's open to it. I need suggestions on the strongest antivirus.

If we're eventually going to have to reset to factory settings, how can one backup data on the phone?

dominique:
So the only solution is to do a factory reset and erase all data?

Is there any strong antivirus one can install and run another malware scan? I told him some of these antivirus cost money, the AVG I downloaded has a premium version that one can buy and he's open to it. I need suggestions on the strongest antivirus.

If we're eventually going to have to reset to factory settings, how can one backup data on the phone?

They should clear 'data and cache" for all their browsers first.

Alternatively, they can cross check for a malware again. If the AVG isn't picking the malware up then it's most likely coming via one trusted app. The browser is the common culprit here.

Sometimes, the application is hidden from the application tray, so, have them go to settings > applications > user apps
inspect the apps for any thing suspicious.

kkins25:

They should clear 'data and cache" for all their browsers first.

Alternatively, they can cross check for a malware again. If the AVG isn't picking the malware up then it's most likely coming via one trusted app. The browser is the common culprit here.

Sometimes, the application is hidden from the application tray, so, have them go to settings > applications > user apps
inspect the apps for any thing suspicious.

Thanks, I'll tell him to look into this

Go to Google chrome and select settings...,history, ...delete browsing data for a week or 2 including cache data... That should solve it.


If he has phoenix browser, he should do same.

If that fails, go to settings, app management and you'll see 3 dots at the top. Select 'reset app preferences'
After that on that same page, go to each individual 3rd party app and disable network access for all of them.

That should definitely solve it

dominique:
Asking on behalf of someone. How can one get rid of constant pop-up ads on phone? The person did not know exactly what he downloaded or uploaded but since Monday, he has been getting pop-ups on his phone while using it as long as Mobile data is turned on.

Yesterday, I took a look at it and it was crazy! The pop-up ads come up every minute, some are videos of up to 50 seconds, After clearing one ad, another one comes up within 20 seconds. Very frustrating. I asked him what he has done so far. He said he has deleted almost every app on his phone. He scanned the phone using one of those default phone shield apps and it came up with nothing. I suggested we download an antivirus and run a proper scan. We settled on AVG and we ran a scan on the phone. It found one malware which we removed. We ran another scan and it came out clean. The phone started working smoothly afterwards.

Or so we thought

Today my husband called me that he called him on his way to work that the pop-up are back again, he scanned the phone using the antivirus and it came up with nothing. At this point I don't know what to do again apart from running a factory reset and he will lose valuable data.

I'm left with no choice but to ask our phone gurus here what else can be done to get rid of these annoying pop-up ads.

the first question is what model is the phone?

a lot of all these chinese phones have malware bundled from source
there is an option on multiple sites that you must NEVER accept c[b]lick yes to Allow this site to send messages.[/b] once you do this you will start getting popups on any platform

https://www.gadgets360.com/apps/features/google-chrome-block-website-notifications-desktop-android-ios-how-to-steps-2436213

this is a guide to blocking notifications

also remove all other browsers installed n the phone

you can also download adguard - which blocks ads, but requires a subscription

he may also need to go through his apps and delete the games or fun apps. alot of these are nuisance ad monetized apps that make money off ads

as to losing your information of you wipe your phone - that should nt happen if you are properly set up, especially if you are using a Samsung device, but that is too far out of the scope of this post

GloriousGbola:


the first question is what model is the phone?

a lot of all these chinese phones have malware bundled from source
there is an option on multiple sites that you must NEVER accept c[b]lick yes to Allow this site to send messages.[/b] once you do this you will start getting popups on any platform

https://www.gadgets360.com/apps/features/google-chrome-block-website-notifications-desktop-android-ios-how-to-steps-2436213

this is a guide to blocking notifications

also remove all other browsers installed n the phone

you can also download adguard - which blocks ads, but requires a subscription

he may also need to go through his apps and delete the games or fun apps. alot of these are nuisance ad monetized apps that make money off ads

as to losing your information of you wipe your phone - that should nt happen if you are properly set up, especially if you are using a Samsung device, but that is too far out of the scope of this post

It's an infinix phone, I don't know the particular model. He has deleted almost all the apps on his phone apart from the default ones and banking app. I've cleared all the browsing data on the Chrome browser and blocked all notifications on almost all the apps but the issue persists.

dominique:


It's an infinix phone, I don't know the particular model. He has deleted almost all the apps on his phone apart from the default ones and banking app. I've cleared all the browsing data on the Chrome browser and blocked all notifications on almost all the apps but the issue persists.

What isp is he using?

sometimes the messages are from there and have to be disabled/opted out

can you describe some of the messages?

are they gambling messages?

GloriousGbola:


What isp is he using?

sometimes the messages are from there and have to be disabled/opted out

can you describe some of the messages?

are they gambling messages?

I'm not sure of his service provider, I think it's either MTN or Glo. The kind of ads I saw when I checked the phone are memory booster apps, then one photo edit app and some crypto apps.

dominique:


I'm not sure of his service provider, I think it's either MTN or Glo. The kind of ads I saw when I checked the phone are memory booster apps, then one photo edit app and some crypto apps.

It is definitely from something he downloaded at one time or the other. If you can share the names of some of the apps we may be able to figure the source.

GloriousGbola:


It is definitely from something he downloaded at one time or the other. If you can share the names of some of the apps we may be able to figure the source.

He had deleted almost all the apps and games on the phone before I got a hold of it. I've asked him what he feel he could have caused it and he has no idea. He said people have asked him to flash the phone and sell it off and that's what he's about to resort to

dominique:


He had deleted almost all the apps and games on the phone before I got a hold of it. I've asked him what he feel he could have caused it and he has no idea. He said people have asked him to flash the phone and sell it off and that's what he's about to resort to

He’s lying to you. He has been watching lots of porn. Most of these malware and virus are picked from porn sites!

Wotowotoman:


He’s lying to you. He has been watching lots of porn. Most of these malware and virus are picked from porn sites!

That's a possibility though I didn't ask. He has eventually disposed the phone sha