Avast Mobile Security bricked my phone!

My main phone broke, so I went to reactivate my old one, Virgin Mobile USA’s Motorola Triumph, which I haven’t used for about a year.

Anyway, Avast has basically taken over the Triumph. About 5 seconds after my phone successfully boots, there’s a siren sound and a voice that says, “This phone has been lost or stolen.” Then it takes me to a screen that asks for my pin. Keep in mind, I do know the pin, but the phone ALWAYS restarts when I click in the box to enter the code.

One of these times, I actually did get the code in, and the phone unlocked, only to restart itself seconds later. After the reboot, the same thing happened. Is there anyway I can fix this? The app is saved on the phone’s internal memory, so I can’t just delete it off the SD card.

I appreciate any help.

Hello,

I don’t see how this could be related to our app. There must be some other things troubling your Triumph.
Still I have a suggestion:

  • get into the recovery mode
  • perform a hard reset

I found a “how-to” guide for you:

  1. Press and hold the POWER key and both volume keys
  2. Continue to hold all 3 keys until an exclamation point and a little green android robot appear
  3. Press the HOME key to display the menu
  4. Navigate using the volume keys
  5. Select Wipe data/factory reset
  6. Use the BACK key to select
  7. Scroll down to Yes delete all user data
  8. Use the BACK key to select
  9. Select reboot system now

I don’t think you understand. The app prevents me from performing any of those things. There is a 5-10 second period from the time the phone turns on to the point Avast turns it off. I know the code, but the shotty programming of the earlier Avast program installed shuts the phone down even AFTER I put in the correct code. Your app has always been reliable, but now it’s responsible for ruining a $250 phone.

I have the box, receipt, proof of purchase, ect. Hell, I could even post a video on here of Avast shutting down my phone even after entering the correct code.

From what I can see, a few people on here have situations where Avast bricked their phones, and the advice you pulled up from the first page of a google search isn’t going to cut it. I want a number where I can talk to somebody who can direct me somewhere that will actually help. Thank you.

Hi,

I believe you do this before you boot your OS. So while you phone is completely turned off, you hold down both volumes and power.

By the way, I was in a pretty similar situation a few weeks back, turned out I just had really low battery, after leaving the device on charger for an hour or two solved the issue.

Filip