Security

How to Remove Android Spambots from Your Phone

Want to hear the good news about Android spambots first? Unless they’re a form of malware, spambots are pretty harmless. That being said, they can still behave in a frustrating manner on your phone. Spambots commonly appear as ads in free Google Play store apps. They’re designed to attract a user’s attention, then lure them into clicking on the ad. Bright, colorful, and persistent — spambots make themselves very hard to miss! Although, you sure wouldn’t miss them if they disappeared one day. Click here to make sure that you don’t have any malicious bots or apps on your phone:

If you’re concerned that one of your spambots could be hazardous, it’s time to run Security Scan. This fast-working feature scans every corner of your phone for viruses, malware, and other safety breaches. If the scan encounters any vulnerabilities, it will quickly patch them up. Interested in learning more about spambots? The following will explain the types of spambots that exist, and other ways that you can get rid of them.

The Two Types of Spambots

When it comes to Android’s spambots, there are two main types on your apps, which you’ll most commonly run into:

Push Alerts: Push alerts, also known as “push notifications,” show up when you’re not actively using the specific app. Apps will spam you with alerts in an attempt to make you use their app. Often, you can try to manage push alerts by going into an app’s notifications settings. Be forewarned: you’ll have to perform this action manually with every app.
Icon Ads: The Google Play store has already officially banned this type of spam. However, it may still appear on older versions of apps, if you download them from a third-party store. What are icon ads, exactly? Well, they show up on your home screen, as if you’ve downloaded a new app. But when you go to click on them, the icon brings you to an ad network.

Getting Rid of these Spambots

Often, installing an ad blocking software is the easiest way to free your Android’s apps from spambots. Ad blockers are available in the Google Play store, and they’re great tools for cleaning out those pesky ads. Otherwise, if you don’t want to go down that route, the best advice would be to delete any “spammy” apps. They’re probably more trouble than they’re worth, anyway.

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The dfndr blog is an informative channel that presents exclusive content on security and privacy in the mobile and business world, with tips to keep users protected. Populated by a select group of expert reporters, the channel has a partnership with dfndr lab's security team. Together they bring you, first-notice news about attacks, scams, internet vulnerabilities, malware and everything affecting cybersecurity.