Are you getting the terraclicks ad virus? - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I think I have got a virus in my phone. Sometimes when I open any link in Chrome, a random popup opens which usually redirects to the play store somewhere. Once I opened 9gag.com and it opened 9gag's play store link. It even happened with android authority blogs that when I interact with the page i.e touch or scroll anywhere, a random ad link just pops up. Not only this but the original page is replaced by a facebook page whose URL contains something about a campaign i.e its ID etc. History shows a website terraclicks.com and google search on terraclicks shows that it's a PC virus.
Not only with Chrome, I even got the same popup while opening a link using facebook's own default internal browser.
I used Avast to scan for viruses including all files but it found no virus. The same thing is also happening in my brother's phone and we don't share anything between phones. There's a laptop in my home which also shows terraclicks in its history. So I think the virus is spread over all the devices, but I am still unsure as to how to remove it while mobile's antivirus detects nothing.

ad virus
Yes i have the same problem.Please help.

well I installed ccleaner and cleared three things:
All apps cache, chrome history and empty folders. It disappeared for some days but last night it came again to me. Now I have repeated the process again, let's see what happens now..

Usman i have factory restored my phone but it is still there. I dont know what to do now

khan khan said:
Usman i have factory restored my phone but it is still there. I dont know what to do now
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which internet are you using? I am using PTCL
Do you also have this on another mobile or on computer?

no, there is only one mobile and it is only happening with it.

It's most likely a simple ad that is displayed when they detect your device and want you to download their app I stead. Use an ad blocker and you will be fine.

zelendel said:
It's most likely a simple ad that is displayed when they detect your device and want you to download their app I stead. Use an ad blocker and you will be fine.
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Click to collapse
It's also appearing on computers. And I can say it's not coming from the website's owner because I personally work on a website and one time clicking on its logo triggered the ad. That website would never put an onClick ad on its logo.

terraclicks ad virus
You should install a new window on your computer which will definitely remove these ads but what to do with this in the android. I have installed every antivirus , antimalware and have performed a reset too but no effect.

OMG, I was also infected with Terraclicks. All I can find is removal guides that have nothing to say about Android system.. Can I just reinstall by browser or reset my phone to factory settings? I would prefer the second option because I have lots of photos that are important to me on my device. thanks

It's almost a year since the original post on this thread, and still searches for info on this insidious malware, Terraclicks shows just non-android solutions and generic adware removal info.
Like several other posters I have tried dozens of AV and anti-malware apps but nothing works so far.
Has anyone found a solution??

Clear all apps cache, browser cookies (it will log you out of all websites in the browser), and browser history (only if needed).
Try the above steps one by one and give some time between them to see if the problem goes away without doing the other steps.

It probably comes from visiting cheap websites like those sharing apk files or songs etc. They don't give a damn about the users.

For me this was solved by making uTorrent pro inactive, the adds stopped.
Once I uninstalled it they never came back.

Assuming you have cleared your Chrome cache etc, I suspect you have an app which has been installed which is causing this. In my case it was an .APK which I had downloaded externally (because I couldn't get it from the Play Store). As it happened, this particular app made itself a device administrator (you can check by going into Security, Device Administrators) and it also had greyed out the ability to uninstall it. The app was also running as a background process which is how it keeps spawning those ads. Nothing picked it up as Malware (Malware Bytes, Trend, CCleaner). That was the giveaway to me, that something wasn't right with this app. This would also explain why a phone reset wouldn't remove it, because that typically reinstalls all your apps (except in your case) the app would have probably come from the Play Store. Since removing the app, I've had no problems and the dreaded problem has gone away. Now I am a lot more careful about which APKs I loaded. Good luck

I had this issue and it ended up being one of the apps I downloaded. Once in uninstalled the correct app the problem ended. If you do factory reset, then redownload all your apps, then the problem would come back because you redownloaded all the apps you originally had. This is especially true if you use an app that's not in googles playstore so what he is saying sounds almost exactly the same as what happen to me.

Thank you that fixed it. I downloaded showbox of a site. N it messed up my phone.

Related

10193 10194 Android

I set a data usage limit in my phone, because I was using a lot of data. After doing it, it alerted me that my mobile data was about to go over and cut off. So scrolled down and discovered these 2 "Android " (looked like the little green Android robot ) and they are named "10193" & "10194" 10194 runs in the foreground all the time and 10193 runs in the background all the time. I was told these are "Kaspersky Mobile Security or Parental Control Monitor" I'm 34yrs old and my parents don't monitor me, please help...
Sent from my SCH-R530M using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Do you have Kaspersky installed?
veeman said:
Do you have Kaspersky installed?
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I do not think I did or ever had I looked at all the appsI have installed via play store under the all section of "my apps" and do not see it.
Why do you say it is Kaspersky? My phone has been having some really weird things happening to it. I went though 3 batteries in 2 months, its been using a ton of data. My data just reset on 10/29/13 and it is already at 5gb. Also we have been finding "duplicate processes" running in the application manager. I really don't know what to do, I have installed Avast, Look out, and some other antivirus apps nothing has helped. Reset a few times and it will help it for a little bit and then boom its right back
victhesunshine said:
I do not think I did or ever had I looked at all the appsI have installed via play store under the all section of "my apps" and do not see it.
Why do you say it is Kaspersky? My phone has been having some really weird things happening to it. I went though 3 batteries in 2 months, its been using a ton of data. My data just reset on 10/29/13 and it is already at 5gb. Also we have been finding "duplicate processes" running in the application manager. I really don't know what to do, I have installed Avast, Look out, and some other antivirus apps nothing has helped. Reset a few times and it will help it for a little bit and then boom its right back
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Click to collapse
I recommend wiping completely and start fresh with a new ROM. You could also install an app like Data Manager and see which app is using the most data and uninstall. Also, do not install apps that you download off the internet. Only download from reputable sources like the Play Store and Amazon app store.
veeman said:
I recommend wiping completely and start fresh with a new ROM. You could also install an app like Data Manager and see which app is using the most data and uninstall. Also, do not install apps that you download off the internet. Only download from reputable sources like the Play Store and Amazon app store.
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Click to collapse
this is going to sound crazy, but i just got that phone back up and running in January. But that is what I did,,,
The reason I said Kaspersky is because this guy I know said he "googled " those numbers and symptoms a
and deemed it that. IT did have a spy wear type thing on it but it was not Kaspersky. It was one that was
sent from a website and it has to be removed via the website. I don't remember the name. Anyhow I have
long since ditched that phone and on to bigger and better things. But w/ that phone it has sparked an interest
in this whole "development/modification" thing! Thanks for you help and advice and sorry it took me so long to
get back to you! Be blessed!:laugh:
Hi Everyone, I know this is a very old thread, but I want to give out a solution because I just encountered this 10194 app as well.
I would like to post this for future reference to other people who will encounter this since I've done searching around about this but I can't find any solution.
To remove this app you must:
1. Open Settings and tap [Security] or [Security and Finger Print] or any other name it might now posses.
2. Under this settings entry, you'll see [Device Administrators], tap that
3. Inside [Device Administrators] you'll see that there is a blank application containing a space as well and the indicator should be ticked, that means this app has administrator access to your phone, it has access to calls, messages, email accounts, etc. See: here
4. Tap this app and [Deactivate] or [De-authorize] it
5. Now go back to the main settings list and navigate to [Apps] or [Applications]
6. Tap the app and you can now uninstall it.
I highly recommend changing your passwords for any account that might have been on that phone, there is a high possibility that this app has gathered information on you.
This includes phone call lists, phone call recordings, your contacts, your messages, notes, emails, etc.
This is a speculation of course and will highly depend on the amount of data this application has passed to wherever it connected to but it is safe to assume that you have been infected by malware and your previous information has been compromised.

[Q] update.appfansworld.com in Chrome browser

I am getting an annoying spam/popup whatever in my Chrome browser. It's very deceiving and I've tried restarting Chrome, the phone, clearing cache but it still pops up all the time. It's from "update.appfansworld.com" and gives me an initial message about memory being low or something. Attached is a screenshot. Anyone know how I can get rid of this?
If this is an app.
Go to settings > application manager
Find the system ui upgrade app and uninstall it.
Is it a popup? If so try an ad blocker. Or figure out what site's giving you this junk.
If your user agent string is reporting as android (in Chrome it is) they can tailor ads to look like "updates".
If you get the "memory slowed" message hit cancel or the back button.
Sent from my Verizon NC5 Galaxy S4 w/ GEL and Xposed
Fixed this problem on my phone by going into the App Info for the Chrome App and Deleting All Data. Just had to resign into Google, and it has not come back so far.
Update.... Went one week with no pop up. Got one again from app fans world. Com again last night. Not the UI one though. This one said my browser crashed, which it hadn't. Spent several hours trying to get it to repeat, but it never did, nor did it today. Just as a final check, I ran Malwarebytes, and found only one instance of malware on my phone, but not thinking it was actually malware. It was the root uninstaller file for Smart Ram Booster Pro. I uninstalled the app anyway as I don't really use it. Will give an update on this in a week or so. Looking online, this is becoming a widespread issue.
jakel1.jf said:
Update.... Went one week with no pop up. Got one again from app fans world. Com again last night. Not the UI one though. This one said my browser crashed, which it hadn't. Spent several hours trying to get it to repeat, but it never did, nor did it today. Just as a final check, I ran Malwarebytes, and found only one instance of malware on my phone, but not thinking it was actually malware. It was the root uninstaller file for Smart Ram Booster Pro. I uninstalled the app anyway as I don't really use it. Will give an update on this in a week or so. Looking online, this is becoming a widespread issue.
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Click to collapse
Yeah I tried deleting data in the chrome browser but that didn't prevent it from coming back. I'll look forward to a solution if you find one.
After clearing the data under app info it stopped for a week for me. It was popping up every other page almost before that. Now, it popped up again just once, and I did a couple weeks worth of browsing in a couple hours after it did, just to see if I could get the pop up again to inspect it better, but it just won't come up again. I don't know if it is gone, or will pop up again sometime later. Weird.
I have been following a guy on the Verizon forum dealing with this. He was going to run his phone in safe mode, and try activating one 3rd party app at a time, using Terminal to see if he could find an app that was causing this. That didn't work though as while in safe mode with no 3rd party apps activated, it still happened. He is now going to reset his phone, reinstalling apps one at a time to see if he can find an app causing it. This will take more than a week though, as he will take time to test chrome for awhile after each app is installed. One thing to note is that the app.fansworld.com site was only created 12.18.14. It could be any app you installed slightly before to any time after that date, or even any update installed then. I am almost thinking it is something to do with Chrome, as I don't install anything except from the Playstore, and only a thing or two that I can remember during that time frame. I am going to both uninstalled all chrome updates, and try a different browser, to see if it still happens. If it does, I am going to factory reset my phone, and see if I can fix it.
jakel1.jf said:
I have been following a guy on the Verizon forum dealing with this. He was going to run his phone in safe mode, and try activating one 3rd party app at a time, using Terminal to see if he could find an app that was causing this. That didn't work though as while in safe mode with no 3rd party apps activated, it still happened. He is now going to reset his phone, reinstalling apps one at a time to see if he can find an app causing it. This will take more than a week though, as he will take time to test chrome for awhile after each app is installed. One thing to note is that the app.fansworld.com site was only created 12.18.14. It could be any app you installed slightly before to any time after that date, or even any update installed then. I am almost thinking it is something to do with Chrome, as I don't install anything except from the Playstore, and only a thing or two that I can remember during that time frame. I am going to both uninstalled all chrome updates, and try a different browser, to see if it still happens. If it does, I am going to factory reset my phone, and see if I can fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assumed it was a chrome thing since that's where it always pops up for me. I guess I could try another browser...
I did click on the page (clicking cancel or update does the same thing) as I figured I will be reseting my phone anyway. No matter how many times I click on it, all it does is redirect me to the Dolphin Browser page on the playstore. This makes me really suspicious because the developers of Dolphin Browser wouldn't ruin their extremely good reputation by doing this. I think the redirect is a cover for something else. Maybe a keystroke logger, or something just as malicious. Rolling back Chrome didn't get rid of the page that pops up. No popping up with new browser so far, went with Maxthon, but it is early. Really starting to think a complete wipe and reset is necessary. After all, the pop up is only what we are seeing, what else might be going on we can't.
Quick question... Have you downloaded any (.flv or.m2v specifically) video files during the time frame? Read a recent article about hackers using them to exploit vulnerabilities. Right now it is suggested not to download those 2 file types at all.
Factory reset my phone, which was a small hassle, but it has fixed it, and the other small bugs and slow downs that appeared at the same time. Back up your files... Pics and such you want to keep, and reset. Your phone should automatically re-install all your apps, although you will have to redo some of your settings. After you save your files to wherever you want, I saved them to my pc, just go to settings.. Then back up and restore.... And select factory reset or reset phone, however it is listed. Your phone will then be like brand new, and you will only have to re-set up a few things as most things will reinstall by themselves with their previous settings. Like I said, a small hassle, but it fixes the problem, and you again know your phone and data is secure.
It started doing it again today. Reset didn't work. Talked to the guy on verizon forum, and he is going through all files to locate it's origin. Will just have to wait until he is done. FYI--It started happening in other browsers too.

Connection.not available??

Why do I see this page pop up do often when "clicking" on a link on my Note 3?
It happens all the time regardless of which app in. I use mobile chrome on the phone.
When I test the link on my Windows Laptop, using desktop chrome it loads fine, so is definitely related to me phone.
So you have an ad blocker installed?
yes, Adfree. I freeze it in titanium but still get the same results. Perhaps I have to restart also?
Freeze shouldn't work it mods your host file. Go delete it.
I deleted it, cleared web cache, restarted. Same thing.
Do you really never get this connection/ webpage not available?

Nexus 5X weird behavior (malware?), possibly caused by FB Messenger or Pixel Launcher

Some very weird things started happening on my phone earlier today. It's a Nexus 5X, running 8.0 Oreo, with the October security patch. I'm not rooted and I'm careful about what I install. The phone is fairly new, from this summer.
I will begin with describing what I did in the hours before this started. I can think of two things that possibly could have started it:
1) Two of my Facebook contacts sent malicious links to me an hour before. It looked like Youtube videos but was not. I did NOT open any of these links, knowing directly they were harmful (not sure if you can be affected by just receiving them, not clicking on them?). I received them in the Messenger Lite application (an official app from Facebook with scaled-down functionality).
2) A few hours before the Facebook links, I sideloaded an APK containing the new Pixel Launcher. I got the APK from Android Police/APK Mirror.
Can't attach links, but Google for: Hands-on with the updated Pixel Launcher, including the new Pixel 2 features [APK Download]
The APK was working fine and nothing seemed odd with it (I used the launcher for a few hours). As long as Android Police know what they uploaded, this shouldn't be the cause for my problems. I bet on Facebook Messenger instead. (People that click such malware links typically get their Facebook accounts hacked, however my account seems fine and my account didn't spam others with the same link. I did not change password or did anything else to "recover" my account yet).
So what happened after this on my phone?
Here is the first thing I noticed. I open Play Store to install updates. It turns out I have one update pending, it's called BankID. This is a major Swedish app used by nearly every smartphone user in the country, and it's for signing into government websites, bank websites, insurance company websites, and much more. When I click update in Play Store two things happen almost instantly:
1) Six pictures are downloaded from Messenger Lite to my phone. That makes no sense, how could clicking a button in Google Play trigger something to happen in Messenger Lite? In fact I tried it three times, with the same behavior every time. (Well, actually opening the Messenger Lite photo album, there are only photos there I already downloaded, so nothing new seems to be added there - but the photos were probably re-downloaded I believe).
2) The BankID update downloads to 100 % (the downloading takes a little longer than expected), then it halts and does nothing, i.e. it's not installing. No error message, it just stops there. I can choose to abort and try again, which I do three times or more, with exactly the same behavior.
Also, I now notice Play Protect hasn't run for two days, but when I try to run it, it seems to be down. After ~30 seconds of scanning it says "App verification temporarily down". "App verification temporarily down" could very well be connected with the halted update I just described? It still says it hasn't run for two days after this.
When I experiment, I notice other things that are very weird indeed.
1) Notifications in Gmail, Snapchat and possibly other apps aren't coming through. By opening the apps, I can sync manually.
2) When I move a file to a new folder using the Downloads app (Files app, stock one) I get a error message saying the move operation failed. This also triggered the photo notifications from Messenger Lite (same behavior as described above, with six photos). However, after a while the moved pictures are indeed in the right folder, even though the error message saying otherwise.
3) After some time I remove "app data" for the Google Play app. When I open it after that, there are now three app updates pending (e.g. Google Wifi also). But the same behavior occurs, when I try to download one or all of them, I get the Messenger photo notifications and the updates halt at 100 % without installing. So the BankID app - which could be targeted by attackers for obvious reasons - could just be a coincidence. It could have happened with any app I suppose, this was the only one pending right then. But still, why couldn't Play Store detect other pending app updates until I refreshed it the way I did? Was Play Store blocked from connecting to Google (or forced to connect to some other server, perhaps?).
What did I do after all of this?
I uninstalled three apps:
-Facebook Lite
-Facebook Messenger Lite
-Pixel Launcher APK
However the uninstall process was very odd. A process called "Package Installer" had a notification saying "Uninstalling Lite" and "Uninstalling Messenger Lite". It didn't seem to be working, it was stuck after some time. I restarted my phone and the apps seem to be gone now, at least they aren't listed in Settings --> Apps. So the uninstall process was successful I suppose, even though it didn't seem to work.
After I restarted my phone I also noticed:
-When I install Messenger Lite from Play Store now, it's easy to uninstall it the way it should be - in mere seconds.
-When I open Play Store, updates are now installing fine. Play Protect is also scanning fine now.
Everything looks back to normal now. But I'm not trusting my device. I'm gonna factory reset it. Before I do, I wonder:
-Can I feel safe the wipe would erase whatever malware I might have had on the phone?
-Is there something I could do to let us know what caused this? Upload a log here somehow?
The only piece of advice I have received as of now is: "Try restarting in safe mode, installing some AV software, and generally looking for suspicious processes." I haven't done that yet, would it still be a good thing to do? Must I install AV software before rebooting into safe mode, or could I install it directly from safe mode? (App suggestions, AV software?).
Usually I'm very careful and security-minded. I haven't had something like this happen before. So I'm very intrigued and mad about this. I'm gonna change my Google account and Facebook account passwords later on I think (I already have 2-factor authentication enabled).
One last thing: When I install Pixel Launcher on my non-rooted phone, it's not running as a system app if my understanding is correct. (At least it shouldn't be). But none the less, when I wanted to uninstall it I had to go into Settings --> Apps and tap "Show system apps" to find it in the list. Is that normal? Perhaps it doesn't mean anything, I just want to know.
Thanks for your advice in advance. Anything else to add? What should I do know? All you might have to say is appreciated.
Come on now guys, someone must be able to help?
If I factory reset the device, will it be clean? I didn't mess with custom ROMs, root, the bootloader or something else. (I suppose the bootloader is locked).

Browser opening ad website after updating apps

Sometimes when an app finishes updating my browser (Via Browser) opens and loads a page that is advertising apps. First it was Appsquare, now it's some other website I forgot to remember. I have NO idea what the cause is and I didn't install any strange apps to my knowledge. I never installed any APK that I downloaded outside the Play Store and both Malwarebytes Antimalware and Eset found nothing. This doesn't always happen when I update an app so there's no set pattern. Smetimes it doesn't happen after updating one or more apps and sometimes it does and that is why I can't really figure out which app is causing it, if it is an app at all because there are no ads displaying in either app I use because I paid to get rid of it. Yes, I did some research and it seems to be an issue mainly affecting Samsung users and one site in particular did some research and found out it was a shady ad network behind it: Clickity. My symptoms do match but I have an LG device, not a Samsung device and I use a different browser. I have used a few of Cheetah Mobile's apps in the past but I'm sure I deleted all traces of it on my phone, at least the things I could find. And I haven't used a single app from those devs anymore since I did a factory reset on my phone and updated to Android 8 so there shouldn't be a trace left. I need help fixing this because I have no idea where to look.
EDIT: It turned out to be my clock widget app "Digital Clock Widget Xperia" made by Lazar Dimitrov that was causing those ads to pop up, despite paying to remove ads.

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