[RESOLVED] Tablet Taken Over By Illegitimate Website

[eric212]

Hello, my friend handed me his "NextBook" tablet running Android 4.1.1 saying he thought he was in big trouble. He was browsing through porn websites when a page popped up on his screen saying the FBI had locked his device and he had to pay $500 to unlock it... I busted out laughing.

I told him it is definitely a scam, luckily he didn't send anyone any money. However I am trying to get this site closed and am having no luck. Even after a complete restart (not just to standby, but turned completely OFF) the page pops up immediately and cannot be closed in any normal way. (clicking on the home button, back button do nothing)

I will post a picture of the page below. It's actually quite funny there is a picture of Obama pointing at you, haha.

I do not see a paperclip "reset" button anywhere on this device, my goal would be to re-set it to factory condition if possible. any advice is greatly appreciated,

Thanks!
Eric

PS, I have actually seen this exact website pop up on my computer before, and the only way I could close it was to do ctrl+alt+del to force close the browser. after that everything was fine. It's strange that even after a restart on this android device it doesn't go away though

 

[Spider]

Factory reset: http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-q/62022-how-do-i-factory-reset-my-tablet.html

If there are no instructions there specifically for your tablet, try some of the methods for other tablets. One of them will probably work and you won't hurt anything by trying.

 

[eric212]

That worked! The first reset procedure on that thread took care of it. Held Pwr+vol up and got a menu where I was able to initiate a factory reset.

Thank you!

 

[Jeffrey]

Glad you got it resolved..

 

[OlivierS]

I do not see a paperclip "reset" button anywhere on this device, my goal would be to re-set it to factory condition if possible. any advice is greatly appreciated,

The paperclip reset button when it is present on a device is, to my knowledge, only used to reboot the machine, not to do a factory reset. I know you found out how to do the factory reset but just wanted to clear out the misconception.