Monday 11 May 2015

How To Uninstall Fake Privacy Guard

Just a few moments ago, my mobile antivirus (Avast) has been detecting a trojan infection on my mobile. I was not aware of installing any unusual application other than the cleaning tool to reclaim more space to my already depleted microsd card. In the process, I think I have chosen the wrong application and in the process had encountered a trojan, a program that looks harmless until it bites later on.

The cleaning app is not a problem at all, but the bundled  "privacy guard app". I can say that it was bundled because I did not remember downloading it.  This app mimicked the legit app LEO Privacy Guard and it copied it's logo as well.



The problem begins

Avast antivirus keeps on detecting it and flashing a notice to uninstall it. What makes it real annoying is I have uninstalled it many times then after 2 to 3 minutes on every uninstallation, it reinstalls itself. Avast antivirus detects it and tells me to uninstall again. I was thinking a false positive and installed AVG but the same result and warning persisted.


Can't find a solution even on google

I have googled for a solution on how to uninstall it but all it is showing was the legit application LEO Privacy Guard. It seems like this infection is new as I have not encountered anyone with the same problem as I have.

Temporary solution

At the time of this post, I am not yet  not able to get rid of it, but I managed to stop it from installing itself by disabling USB debugging. Access this going to Settings>General>Developer Options>Untick USB Debugging. This feature is off by default, I just let it on because I usually connect and transfer files to my laptop. It proved that this is not really a  good idea to always  set to on.

If you do have a tip on how to remove this, then it would be much appreciated!


Update: 14.May.2015


The fake Privacy Guard application stopped to automatically install itself after 3 days. I did not do anything special but I have added another internet security in my system. Although Kaspersky did not detect anything suspicious after the first scan, the rogue application did not manage to appear in the scan results even after using AVG and Avast with the USB debugging on!


8 comments:

  1. Hi I also have the same issue and I have another issue of Time Service and Monkey Test
    I am using Huawei Honor 3C

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi I also have the same issue and I have another issue of Time Service and Monkey Test
    I am using Huawei Honor 3C

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi I also have the same issue and I have another issue of Time Service and Monkey Test
    I am using a10 qurdcore

    ReplyDelete
  4. In my case, the fake Privacy Guard icon showed up unexpectedly on the launcher. When I tapped on it, Android asked if I wanted to install it (I allowed unsigned apps). I didn't, of course.

    I used APK manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ljmobile.apk.manager) to find and delete the suspect APK. It has not shown up since.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I cant uninstall privacy guard, how do i uninstall?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was able to use ES File Explorer. I clicked on Apps, then I clicked on the Privacy Guard Icon, and tried to delete it. It took me to a spot in my phone where I could deactivate it, then went back and deleted it out of ES File Explorer. So far, it has not tried to reinstall. Hope this helps!

      Delete
    2. its true.. ES File Explorer can deactivate Privacy Guard.. yeaayyyy!!!

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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