• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help HELP!!! INFECTED BY RANSOMWARE!!!

Hi, I was just casually using the internet when suddenly this pop up came up saying it was from the canadian ministry of safety, threatening criminal charges, and it had taken a picture of me, too. I read that it is ransomware, but I don't know how to remove it. I cannot use downloaded virus removers since i can only use my phone in safe mode. PLEASE ANSWER!!! Thanks in advance!!!

Allan
 
Hi Allan,

I would probably perform a factory reset on the device. The simplest method is through the device settings. Settings > Backup & reset > factory data reset.

If you cannot access that option in safe mode, there is usually another way that involves powering down the device and using a button combination to boot into recovery mode. From there you can also choose a factory reset.

That method varies from device to device so you would have to find the button combination for your specific device to enter recovery mode.

Be aware that a factory reset will wipe all your data, so if possible back anything up that you can before the reset.


There may be a less detrimental approach to removing randomware but I don't know what options are available for that. You may want to wait for a few more replies and see if someone has any other options before going that route.
 
Hi Allan,

I would probably perform a factory reset on the device. The simplest method is through the device settings. Settings > Backup & reset > factory data reset.

If you cannot access that option in safe mode, there is usually another way that involves powering down the device and using a button combination to boot into recovery mode. From there you can also choose a factory reset.

That method varies from device to device so you would have to find the button combination for your specific device to enter recovery mode.

Be aware that a factory reset will wipe all your data, so if possible back anything up that you can before the reset.


There may be a less detrimental approach to removing randomware but I don't know what options are available for that. You may want to wait for a few more replies and see if someone has any other options before going that route.

Thanks, Brian706, I will definitely try the factory reset option and see how that goes. :)
 
Just building up on what Brian said, in the US we have a very similar ransomware going around called the FBI Virus, Google has a lot of information on this malware available, and from the description of what happened to you Allan, I would suggest doing a Google search to see if this is the same thing, just with a different name.
 
Just building up on what Brian said, in the US we have a very similar ransomware going around called the FBI Virus, Google has a lot of information on this malware available, and from the description of what happened to you Allan, I would suggest doing a Google search to see if this is the same thing, just with a different name.

Hi Kibaikasu, I did search on google quite a bit but no solid answers came up, so I decided to post it up on Android Forums. Thanks anyway for the input though! :)
 
Glad to hear everything was resolved. Great job getting to safe mode, a lot of people have difficulty getting there due to the often times confusing button combinations. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom