Troubleshoot Removing Taicheetee popups from Android 11 (Jan 2021 security update installed)

Infected operating system
Android 11 (Jan 2021 security update installed)
Infected device
Google Pixel 4a
Infected device issues
In the past two days, I've been getting popup screens on my mobile Chrome browser with a URL that begins taicheetee and wants me to install something. I know better than to do that, so I closed the tab (and closed the browser in Android) and did a search. The suggestion was to run Malwarebytes mobile and it would fix things. I downloaded it and ran it, but it didn't find anything. I also restarted the phone (powered down and then restarted). I also cleared all data in Chrome but this is still happening. Any suggestions to get rid of whatever I seem to be infected with?
Steps taken to remove the infection
In the past two days, I've been getting popup screens on my mobile Chrome browser with a URL that begins taicheetee and wants me to install something. I know better than to do that, so I closed the tab (and closed the browser in Android) and did a search. The suggestion was to run Malwarebytes mobile and it would fix things. I downloaded it and ran it, but it didn't find anything. I also restarted the phone (powered down and then restarted). I also cleared all data in Chrome but this is still happening. Any suggestions to get rid of whatever I seem to be infected with?

OHRassi

New Member
Thread author
Jan 30, 2021
2
In the past two days, I've been getting popup screens on my mobile Chrome browser with a URL that begins taicheetee and wants me to install something. I know better than to do that, so I closed the tab (and closed the browser in Android) and did a search. The suggestion was to run Malwarebytes mobile and it would fix things. I downloaded it and ran it, but it didn't find anything. I also restarted the phone (powered down and then restarted). I also cleared all data in Chrome but this is still happening. Any suggestions to get rid of whatever I seem to be infected with?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

KicktheM

New Member
Jan 31, 2021
1
Hello OHRassi, I just had the same problem today on one of my phones, a Pixel 2. The way I identified the problem was by going into Settings and then Apps and Notifications. On the recently opened apps section, I could see that there was one of my apps that said I opened it recently but I never remember it opening that specific app. In my case, it was the app Barcode Scanner. I took the following steps: 1) I deleted this app that was showing up in my recent apps, 2) then went into my Chrome browser and deleted all history and cookies since ever 3) Restarted my phone. So far that seems to have fixed my issue with the Taicheetee popups. I notice the problem when I looked at my phone and saw my always-on screen not working, then when I unlocked my phone Chrome will open with the popup for Taicheetee or other websites. I hope this helps you with your phone. Have a good day.
 
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OHRassi

New Member
Thread author
Jan 30, 2021
2
Hello OHRassi, I just had the same problem today on one of my phones, a Pixel 2. The way I identified the problem was by going into Settings and then Apps and Notifications. On the recently opened apps section, I could see that there was one of my apps that said I opened it recently but I never remember it opening that specific app. In my case, it was the app Barcode Scanner. I took the following steps: 1) I deleted this app that was showing up in my recent apps, 2) then went into my Chrome browser and deleted all history and cookies since ever 3) Restarted my phone. So far that seems to have fixed my issue with the Taicheetee popups. I notice the problem when I looked at my phone and saw my always-on screen not working, then when I unlocked my phone Chrome will open with the popup for Taicheetee or other websites. I hope this helps you with your phone. Have a good day.
Thanks - I did more searching and found several other posts pointing at Barcode Scanner. I didn't think I even had that app on my phone, and if I did it certainly wasn't a new app, so I didn't think that could be it. But looking at my app listing, I did have that one installed, so I uninstalled it and did the same clean-out you did. As with you, so far so good. Thanks for replying!
 
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The1DNR

New Member
Feb 1, 2021
1
Thanks - I did more searching and found several other posts pointing at Barcode Scanner. I didn't think I even had that app on my phone, and if I did it certainly wasn't a new app, so I didn't think that could be it. But looking at my app listing, I did have that one installed, so I uninstalled it and did the same clean-out you did. As with you, so far so good. Thanks for replying!
OHRassi and KicktheM

I had the same problem. Seems like it started 3-4 days ago (27JAN21) on my Pixel 2XL. My ‘always on clock’ stopped being visible and when I’d power-button wake up my phone there would be a new tab in Chrome for some anti-virus nonsense. 8-12 new tabs overnight.

Deleting the recently used app Barcode Scanner seems to have fixed it for me also. I don’t know what I did to get that installed…

Thank you so much for posting this fix.
 

JayDee

New Member
Feb 4, 2021
1
Thanks for the info!

Had the same problem on two of my devices. One of the few apps they shared "Barcode Scanner".

I was going crazy to find out which app is responsible!
 

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