Friend has issues with ads

[Dracindo]

So a friend of mine just told me he has constant popups on his phone. Not when just using an app, also when he just opens his phone, leave it open and at a random moment, an ad shows up or a browser window with an ad.

He had already tried to reset the phone to default settings, and that didn't work. I forgot to ask which one, but an antivirus app didn't fix it either. He thinks that the problem would be solved if he just buys a new phone, but is also afraid that a virus might be on his google account or SIM card, and by using any of these on a new device, the problem may once again occur.

Anybody know what else he could try? And in case you're wondering, he assumes that he got this virus from downloading a game via a QR code, instead of downloading it from the safe Google Play Store, but he isn't 100% sure that's the cause.

 

[Dracindo]

Some extra details that I should've mentioned: he is using an Android device from Samsung. He doesn't know which type it is though. I remember that it's somewhere on your phone, but I don't even know where I can find that information on my own phone (Huawei P10 Mini). I do have my old Samsung device, so assuming that it should all be relatively the same way to discover this, it would be great if anyone could tell me, so that I can try it out on my previous phone so that I can tell my friend how to find his device's details on his phone.

Also, why doesn't know which game, along with some other friends we asked what else he does on his phone, and came to the conclusion that downloading games via QR code would've been the cause. The only other things he does are texting, using GPS, calling, and other features that were available from the start.

 

[warhammer2c]

You can find info about your phone under settings>system>about phone (something like that, mine is set in a different language than english)

Far as i know there are no "sim viruses" and your google account most assuredly can't really be messed either.

I suggest downloading Brave Browser (chromium based with adblock)and see if the issue persists. Also seems highly unlikely any issue like this has not been cleared by a factory reset, i don't wanna sound rude but is he possibly getting malware off porn websites?