Help Assistance with s3.amazonaws pop-up

[JwT]

I don't have any app like Easy Eyes or Twilight, nor any of the others on jsveiga's list (not even Skype, to my surprise: I thought it was built in even though I'd never used it on the device.)

But I do have exactly the app named "QR & Barcode Scanner", from Gamma Play. It was installed a very long time ago, though, certainly over a year. It contains discreet little ads that I hadn't even noticed until now.

 

[nextstoplondon]

Interesting! Maybe a common denominator?

How about everyone else? Do you have the same app on your phone?

 

[WillyWill]

I have had this pop up over the last few days, but was always able to back out of Chrome and kill the impacted tab.... until today. The pop up would impede any ability to open a new tab or kill tabs in Chrome.

I did have "Twilight" installed and I uninstalled that app as well. I uninstalled and reinstalled Chrome and also installed the adblockplus/Samsung browser just in case. Chrome now shows no history or "all sites" info .... fingers crossed this will work. Since many of us were impacted in the same time frame, it's likely that an ap-update pushed this new behavior?

Samsung Galaxy Note3/T-Mobile/

Had the same problem and nothing seemed to work (antivirus apps, factory reset, etc.) An ad blocker seemed to keep the pop-up from coming back but this is not a real solution as it does not rid the phone of the problem, just hides it. I finally found a solution for my LG G5. Open a new tab in Chrome in order to bypass the one that has been hijacked. Go to settings, then site settings, then all sites. There, you'll see a list of all your favorite websites saved in your Google account's bookmarks. Just go to the ones that look suspicious (they will be obvious), click on them and then click on "clear & reset". That will rid your phone of the malicious sites and take care of the problem.

 

[Scyris]

My question is what shady site were you on that you picked something like this up at. Also a good way to get rid of ads in apps is with no root firewall. It takes a bit of manual configurations to find which servers you need to block, but once you do. Your golden. In general anything with amazonaws is usually an ad server. Least thats what I've notice in Zombie shooter free, alien shooter free and SAS 4, 3 apps with ads I use where I successfully blocked them with that firewall. its on the google app store. You see I don't mind the banner ads some apps have, but when your force video ads on me I can't skip after every mission or every 2-3 mission I do, thats crossing the line to me. Alien/Zombie shooter free do this hardcore, literally every mission you do is a 30s video ads your forced to watch. on Sas 4 its every 2-4 you do.

To the post above me, thats a prime reason why I don't sync my favorites etc with google/firefox etc. Its just leaving yourself open to issues. Then again, these things are prob targeted at chrome or the samsung browser app, and less-so on things like firefox.

 

[Jess Noname]

I suddenly got this popup on Saturday 17 September. As described by WillyWill, I couldn't open a new tab or close the one with the popup (I didn't fancy finding out what happens if you click on OK). I'm new to smart phones so I had to look up how to Force stop the browser. I then downloaded AdBlock Plus from Play Store by searching for it. After this, the browser was still in the same state. I had to CLEAR DATA and CLEAR CACHE before I could do anything in the browser. I then carried on doing what I had been trying to do on the Web and within a few clicks I had the popup back again. I repeated the shutdown and clearing process. I cautiously tried other web sites and had no problems. I later installed Norton 30-day free trial virus protection. It found no problems.

My instinct is that the popup was triggered by the page I was on - I definitely browsed through the same pages when it repeated - but I can't be sure and when I tried the site I suspected just now, everything was fine. It was a page about a local fete, nothing deliberately malicious.

This relates to Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge plus with just the pre-installed "Internet" browser.

Slightly off topic, I saw this yesterday about AdBlock Plus:
https://www.grahamcluley.com/2016/09/adblock-plus-wants-ads-screen/

This partly makes sense of the "more blocking options" list, which includes:
"Disable anti-ad blocking messages" - there were so many double-negatives in there I couldn't figure out whether it should be on or off. For me currently, it has no checkmark. But what does "Disable malware domains" mean???? I have it checked. But maybe that means it's disabled from protecting me from malware domains...

 

[nx1977]

Is Google aware of this?

None of the malware scanners I've tried detect any issues with apps.

 

[nx1977]

Have found this as a possible solution
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3220216?hl=en

 

[duanewanda]

Thank you Bg260 ad blocker worked for us on Samsung phone

 

[Annie101]

I have the Samsung S7. it's been a couple of months since mine started. Here is what I've learned. 2 factory resets. They don't work. It attaches to almost anything, mainly websites. once you visit and it's hitched a ride it makes its home on your phone. You c as none get things for aware, mal ware etc. the popup may be gone but it's still there.

AT&T norms their customers they need phone replacement. This is actual stores not detached retailers that still have AT&T signs in front. They also advise to use the phone as a phone only. Do not go into banking or sensitive information areas. They can and have been accessed.

They also said that it will go through firewalls, security, and any mobile security downloads. This is also why there isn't a solution to remove it.

I can tell it is continually making my phone worse. If I send a picture the receiver gets a distorted picture with strange blocks of color starting at the bottom getting a little better at the top. The keyboard doesn't keep up with typing, The volume will increase and decrease on its own. Even if I hold the button it won't respond. if I hold volume up it will bounce back and forth and go to minimum. without touching the phone the volume will adjust on the phone.

The list goes on and getting worse. AT&T has advised me to switch out the phone immediately because the impact of this could cause severe damage to my accounts and it is destroying my phone.

Needless to say, I have to get another phone this weekend. The phone companies are aware of this. AT&T definitely is.

Please be careful with your sensitive information. if your phone starts acting up you have to replace it. (Technically should be done when problem starts).

Good luck to all. May they find a way to stop the new way to invade, screw up, steal info and damage our phones.

 

[nx1977]

I have the Samsung S7. it's been a couple of months since mine started. Here is what I've learned. 2 factory resets. They don't work. It attaches to almost anything, mainly websites. once you visit and it's hitched a ride it makes its home on your phone. You c as none get things for aware, mal ware etc. the popup may be gone but it's still there.

AT&T norms their customers they need phone replacement. This is actual stores not detached retailers that still have AT&T signs in front. They also advise to use the phone as a phone only. Do not go into banking or sensitive information areas. They can and have been accessed.

They also said that it will go through firewalls, security, and any mobile security downloads. This is also why there isn't a solution to remove it.

I can tell it is continually making my phone worse. If I send a picture the receiver gets a distorted picture with strange blocks of color starting at the bottom getting a little better at the top. The keyboard doesn't keep up with typing, The volume will increase and decrease on its own. Even if I hold the button it won't respond. if I hold volume up it will bounce back and forth and go to minimum. without touching the phone the volume will adjust on the phone.

The list goes on and getting worse. AT&T has advised me to switch out the phone immediately because the impact of this could cause severe damage to my accounts and it is destroying my phone.

Needless to say, I have to get another phone this weekend. The phone companies are aware of this. AT&T definitely is.

Please be careful with your sensitive information. if your phone starts acting up you have to replace it. (Technically should be done when problem starts).

Good luck to all. May they find a way to stop the new way to invade, screw up, steal info and damage our phones.

Sorry but that advice from your network is rubbish .

It arrives via advertising networks (ie pages with OutBrain , Taboola etc) and simply diverts you to a page hosted on Amazon AWS (who have killed rhetoric majority of them now) . It can also arrive via apps so vet any apps not from major companies or third party app stores .

The faults you have sound like a faulty handset which have coincidentally occurred at the same time. You're also visiting pages serving these ads and seeing it again.

Sounds like completely irresponsible advice given by AT&T by clueless staff 'guessing '

 

[Annie101]

Sorry but that advice from your network is rubbish .

It arrives via advertising networks (ie pages with OutBrain , Taboola etc) and simply diverts you to a page hosted on Amazon AWS (who have killed rhetoric majority of them now) . It can also arrive via apps so vet any apps not from major companies or third party app stores .

The faults you have sound like a faulty handset which have coincidentally occurred at the same time. You're also visiting pages serving these ads and seeing it again.

Sounds like completely irresponsible advice given by AT&T by clueless staff 'guessing '

The issues started after I was able to get the pop up to stop. I haven't been getting the pop up but now having these issues. why would the pop ups just stop then these problems start happening? I've been ready to switch back over to Iphone. Either way I still have to pay money. I can talk to AT&T again about trading this one out. They still give me the same song and dance. One rep even watched my phone doing crazy things and said nothings wrong with it. I'm like, are you blind and deaf? I can't switch carriers because where we are at they are the only one that actually has signal here.

 

[nx1977]

The issues started after I was able to get the pop up to stop. I haven't been getting the pop up but now having these issues. why would the pop ups just stop then these problems start happening? I've been ready to switch back over to Iphone. Either way I still have to pay money. I can talk to AT&T again about trading this one out. They still give me the same song and dance. One rep even watched my phone doing crazy things and said nothings wrong with it. I'm like, are you blind and deaf? I can't switch carriers because where we are at they are the only one that actually has signal here.

This issue also affects iOS devices so getting an iPhone and visiting the same sites won't help you avoid this redirect .

But as you say, you've been looking for a reason to go back to Apple .