Why does random .zip file download to my P7P?

[Umbrabola]

I noticed a weird file in my Downloads folder on Sunday. The filename was 2022-07-27 03-29-17.zip. I didn't download it.

I got nervous and did a factory reset. But the next morning a similarly named file was in my Downloads folder again. I did yet another factory reset and even ran a scan with BitDefender, which found nothing. Have I been hit with some sort of malware?

 

[belodion]

Whatever it is, I’m guessing that it’s harmless.

 

[mustang7757]

Might of been a back up you did

I'll leave a Link to register so you can communicate here, As a guest account you can only post questions but can't reply.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[Umbrabola]

I'm concerned nonetheless. I transferred the file over to my PC, ran a malware scan and tried to see what was actually in it. It appeared to be a bunch of weird file types (10 files, 11 files, stuff I've never heard of). When I opened them in Notepad it was just a bunch of non-English characters (maybe Chinese, maybe Korean). Definitely weird.

 

[Umbrabola]

Might of been a back up you did

I'll leave a Link to register so you can communicate here, As a guest account you can only post questions but can't reply.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

I'm not convinced it's a back up. I've had the device since October and it's never done this before. Only in the last few days. And the contents of the .zip file are a bunch of oddball file types that, when opened in Notepad are just non-English characters. It has me concerned.

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome to AC!

I changed you to the post owner and moved this to the Pixel 7 forum.


Can you post a screenshot from your phone

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=413366

 

[mustang7757]

Do you download anything from the pixel web browser or go into shady sites ?

 

[Umbrabola]

I haven't been to any shady sites or downloaded anything questionable.

I can't screenshot it now, as I've since wiped the phone. But if the file shows up it will show up in my Downloads folder sometime overnight while I'm asleep, which is what's happened the last few instances.

 

[mustang7757]

Ok also deny access permission for downloads in chrome, check in the Files app under internal storage if its there ?

 

[Umbrabola]

I can do that, but the weird part is there isn't any notification that anything was downloaded. The .zip file is just there.

 

[mustang7757]

Also for now turn permission off to access files for Files app
Go to settings>apps>special app access>all file access>files tap turn off

You read in the description of my screenshot


We do this for couple days to test it out

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central!

If you want to share that file via Google Drive link here, I'm willing to take a look at it on my Chromebook. Malicious files in a ZIP file intended for Android wouldn't do any harm on a Chromebook.

 

[dookie.]

Paranoid much? This is silly.