Phone Virus

[Daniel]

My phone was infected with a virus yesterday, somehow, after I tried and failed to download a PDF, then tried to download a new PDF reader, as prompted, then tried to download clean up program and security security programs, again, as prompted by pop-ups on my phone.

It continued from there. The Google Play app add pop-ups would not stop, and would appear (with loud sound effects, e.g sirens, and berating narrators).

I downloaded an "easy" new interface, which was a mistake, and compounded the problem by making my phone's interface unfamiliar to me, which made using the phone actually very difficult, while as I said above, the pop-up Google Play Store adds would not stop. I was getting them about every 20 sec.

This is the first time this has happened to me. I didn't know how to begin to fix it.

I called my carrier and got advice.

Then I reset my phone to factory settings, and downloaded my Google account from "the Cloud."

This is the condensed version how I fixed my phone. There were a bunch of steps, involving choosing settings, syncing data, answering questions, etc., as you can imagine.

I had to change my WTF password. This took me many attempts. Interestingly, I was able to drop my Google account and create a new one. My Yahoo mail account is still not functional. Still, I was able to find it. I don't remember how. At least, it exists on my phone, with a new password.

PSA-- Don't panic if this happens to you. I thought I might have to pay a technician or buy a new phone. Instead, I was able to call my carrier, and work through the problem. FWIW, I have an Android phone.

This adventure lasted about 24 hrs.