Remove "cleaner-for-phone.com"

[RhinoCan]

Often (but not always), when I open the browsers on my phone, I get something called "cleaner-for-phone.com" demanding that I update it or it will lock up my photos. Naturally, I have no intention of doing this and never installed an app by that name. I assume this is some kind of malware so installed AVG and ran a full scan with it but found nothing. Then I installed Kaspersky and ran a full scan with it. Again, nothing.

So how do I get this malware off my phone?

 

[lunatic59]

Since it seems related to opening your browser(s) it's most likely being served as a pop-up spoof. Open your browsers and go to the settings menu and find where you can empty the caches and cookies. Then go to your phone settings>apps>browsers (whichever browser you use) and then delete the cache and data for the app. Be advised that this will remove any saved bookmarks, so back them up first.

 

[RhinoCan]

Since it seems related to opening your browser(s) it's most likely being served as a pop-up spoof. Open your browsers and go to the settings menu and find where you can empty the caches and cookies. Then go to your phone settings>apps>browsers (whichever browser you use) and then delete the cache and data for the app. Be advised that this will remove any saved bookmarks, so back them up first.

 

[RhinoCan]

Since it seems related to opening your browser(s) it's most likely being served as a pop-up spoof. Open your browsers and go to the settings menu and find where you can empty the caches and cookies. Then go to your phone settings>apps>browsers (whichever browser you use) and then delete the cache and data for the app. Be advised that this will remove any saved bookmarks, so back them up first.

Belated thanks for your reply! I did what you suggested. It may have worked in Firefox - I still see it if I back up but I can go to alternate websites via typing a URL in the address bar - but it's definitely NOT working in the browser that Samsung shipped with the phone. It pops up immediately and won't let me at the address bar, settings or anything else. I can't even click on About to see the proper name of this browser. I was getting similar results in Brave before I uninstalled it.

How do I fix this?

 

[lunatic59]

I think the Samsung default browser is just called "internet". Did you clear the cache and data for that as well?

 

[RhinoCan]

I think the Samsung default browser is just called "internet". Did you clear the cache and data for that as well?

I can't figure out how to do that since the popup immediately blocks all access to the browser controls. I'm sure as heck NOT going to give it the permission it wants but the dialog it is given me seems to be modal....

 

[lunatic59]

Go to phone settings>apps>internet and do it from there.

 

[RhinoCan]

Go to phone settings>apps>internet and do it from there.

I didn't realize you could get into an app's settings that way. Good to know!

It didn't help though. This nonsense is still there and hijacking the browser.

What else can I try?