Detect and Remove Virus from Android Phone

How do you check your phone for viruses?

 ·         Battery drain

 ·         Unexplained charges

 ·         Sudden pop-ups

 ·         Collect and send GPS coordinates, contact lists, e-mail addresses etc. to third parties

   ·         Send SMSs to premium-rate numbers

   ·         Subscribe infected phones to premium services

   ·         Record phone conversations and send them to attackers

   ·         Take control over the infected phone

   ·         Download other malware onto infected phones

   ·         “Push notifications ads” delivering alerts to a phone’s notification bar – when the user swipes to pull down the notification bar from the top of the screen, an ad shows up under Notifications.

   ·         “Icon ads” inserted onto a phone’s start screen – when the user touches the icon, it usually launches a search engine or a web service.

Steps you can take to remove an Android virus

To review and remove questionable apps, go to Settings >> then Apps or Application Manager. Look through the list and keep an eye out for anything that's odd or unfamiliar. Tap the questionable app you want to get rid of and this will open up the App Info screen. First, remove the app's data cache by hitting "Clear Cache." Next, delete the app's data by tapping "Clear Data." Once these steps are done, click on the "Uninstall" button to remove the app.

First, enter your Android phone's Safe Mode.

In most Android gadgets, this requires holding the power button until the "Power Off" or "Power Option" menu appears. Simply tap and hold on this menu until the option to reboot in Safe Mode appears then hit OK.

Once your phone is in Safe Mode, go back to Apps or Application Manager and uninstall any stubborn apps that can't be removed otherwise. Some malicious apps also have managed to install themselves with administrator status so you will need to clear these permissions too.

Go to Settings >> Security >> Device administrators then find the app that you cannot uninstall normally, uncheck the box, choose "Deactivate" on the next screen >> select OK then return to Apps or Application Manager to uninstall.

After uninstalling your questionable apps, restart your Android phone.

Protect yourself from Android malware

As we say each time, to protect yourself against Android malware, the best practice is to avoid downloading and installing apps from "Unknown Sources." Only download apps from the official Google Play app store and make sure you check user reviews, too, before installing.

Second, be careful with links and websites you visit. Drive-by malware downloads could happen anytime without you knowing it. Don't grant any system permissions to prompts coming from unknown sources.