Trouble With PopUp Ad on my Note Pro 12.1

[AC Question]

For about two weeks I've had a pop-up that originates in the top left corner of the screen and moves to the center before it is fully visible. It is a small rectangle that has rotating ads for various legitimate companies. There are two exit buttons in opposite corners and an opt-out button on the third corner. Op-out takes you to a generic browser asking for the three identifying codes for a Is this phone. This is a WiFi only tablet so those codes are meaningless. The second way to opt-out was to download 'their' opt-out app, install it, and just press the opt-out button. I did the DL and installation. pushed the opt-out button. NOTHING. Yes, it said the opt-out pop-up should have been deleted and I could delete the opt-out app. I repeated this about 3 times. NOTHING. Has anyone else had this happen? And more importantly, how do you get rid of the pop-up. Thanks! Is this a legitimate app?

 

[nahoku]

Is this a legitimate app?

More than likely... no.

Heaven only knows what information you gave out by installing the opt-out app and actually using it... three times, no less. This is how bogus companies gather information. Now whether that actually happened is anyone's guess. It may be just a harmless advert, but don't take chances with it. You just never know. If you installed any apps recently, about the same time this popup began, then I would look at uninstalling them. If the popup came about after using your browser, then something may have downloaded and installed without your knowledge. Check your apps for anything you don't recognize. Also check Settings > Security > Phone Administrators to see if everything there is what should be there. If you see something that you don't recognize, deactivate it. Worst case is you'll need to reactivate it if it's a valid admin.

If it were me, I would also go into Storage and clear "Cached data". And, in "Miscellaneous files", I would look for any app I don't recognize and delete the entry. Note... don't just start deleting things in Misc files as some of that is valid data. I would also restart the phone in recovery and wipe the cache partition. Lastly, if I felt it was important enough, I would back up my data and factory reset the device. However, I would only do this if I felt unsure the Antivirus and Malware scanners didn't do their jobs.

Download and install an Antivirus (AVG, or Avira) and Malwarebytes, update them, and have them scan your device. Have these apps fix whatever they find. Whenever you get something unusual like this, don't wait and let it go on.