Help Malware problem (cant uninstall)

[Ziphold]

So, I've done the worst thing I could... I installed an APK of a cracked game from an unknown source and it started installing some weird programs (porn etc.). Those programs constantly show ads when I enable my internet and sometimes lock, or freeze my phone. I tried everything; disabling them, taking away their administrative privilages, but no matter what I do, I cant uninstall them. It just says disable.
The worst thing, FACTORY RESET does NOT work. I't doesen't delete those malicious files.
Does anyone know what do do? please.

 

[Kibaikasu]

Hey Zip, sorry to hear about your phone getting infected. Sounds like the virus has hooked it's claws deep into your phone. I would start by attempting to reboot your phone in Safe Mode. Depending on the make/model of your device, there might be different ways to access Safe Mode. The 2 most common ways are as follows:

1) Hold down the power button until the Power Down menu pops up, then hold down Power Down until you get a message saying Reboot in Safe Mode.

2) Power off your device completely, then turn it on holding down the power button and the volume-down button. Once you see the logo of your phone's manufacturer, let go of the power button but maintain the volume-down button until your phone finishes turning on.

Your confirmation that you're in Safe Mode will appear on the bottom-left corner of your screen. Your phone will only have apps that were preinstalled by your manufacturer, nothing downloaded by the user will start up.

Once in safe mode, try to replicate the symptoms of the virus. Connect to the internet, open up Chrome/Browser, etc. If the adds and stuff don't pop up, then you should be ok to try a factory reset from there to try and solve the issue. If your phone came with an anti-virus preinstalled, consider using it to look for the malignant apps.

If you can replicate the issue in Safe Mode, or the steps above don't work, there's not much else that can be done. Your only other options would be to do a warranty claim with your manufacturer or service provider, or void the warranty by rooting your device and attempting to manually flash your device with your default version of Android.

 

[Hadron]

Are you rooted? Factory reset won't remove stuff that's installed to /system, and it's easier for malware to do that if you have root already (in principle if a phone can be rooted using an app then a malware installer could use the same trick to install itself). Only offering disable sounds like a system app - does disable actually work?

If you have root then you should be able to remove apps from system too. Titanium Backup will let you do this, for example.

If you are not rooted and it's got into system then reflashing the phone completely is the only real option (and may be the safest thing anyway). We'd need to know what phone you have to advise on how.