BD Mobile Security: Scam Alert And Anti-Theft Both Turned Off. Any Help?

ChrisSim

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to inform you that both Scam Alert and Anti-Theft in the BD Mobile Security App were found disabled on not just my phone but also my mother's for no reason when turning the phone off and back on (since yesterday so version 3.3.234.2411 might be the culprit I guess because that update happened about then).

Then Autopilot suggests turning them on again but Anti-Theft seems to not operate at all (no toggle is on) and cannot be enabled (no reaction when the button is pressed); I am not sure if it is working properly in that state at all. Similar with Scam Alert but here the feature appears as enabled on the Scam Alert tab itself while Autopilot complains that it is not.

Additionally, Account Privacy is seemingly not working either; the accounts added – in my case one, in my mother's three e-mail addresses – are not there anymore and no scan can be initiated or performed.

After a few minutes – I cannot pinpoint exactly when – all of the aforementioned features start working again though as if nothing had happened. Curious behaviour.

Device: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G / Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

OS: Android 14 / One UI 6.0

BD Mobile Security: 3.3.234.2411

(My mother uses the very same OS and BDMS version.)

Thanks a lot for your attention! :)

Best regards,

Christian Simon

ChrisSim

In case image proof is helpful :)

Edit 1: The last image shows App Lock which is not working either ...

I think there is even more to unravel here so the list of issues is likely longer than what I described in my posts I presume.

Edit 2: It took approximately half an hour for the BD Mobile Security App to go back to its error-free state; my mother measured about the same time on her device.

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/99672/bd-mobile-security-scam-alert-and-anti-theft-both-turned-off-any-help

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/338210#Comment_338210

Try reinstalling the product. For me, the product is running without any errors.

If the issue persists even after reinstalling the product, kindly visit the Bitdefender support website  https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Select, Activate and Install → Install → I don't know → Contact Support → You will get the option of chat, call or email.

@Gjoksi, @garioch7 what about you guys!

Regards

Gjoksi

Hello.

My specs:

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G (SM-A346B/DSN)
Android 14
One UI Core 6.0
Android Security Patch Level April 1, 2024
Google Play System Update April 1, 2024
BD Mobile Security 3.3.234.2411

I was also facing issues with Anti-Theft and App Lock modules, exactly the same issues you are having on your phones. When i wanted to enable the Anti-Theft module, there was no reaction when the button was pressed, no matter how much i tried. The same happened when i tried to set PIN for the App Lock module.

Today the issues for the 2 modules were solved by themselves, both Anti-Theft and App Lock work without any issue.

Regards.

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/338225#Comment_338225

Exactly the same here.

It will all stay that way and work for you @Gjoksi until the next time you reboot your device; then it goes nuts again for some minutes or maybe half an hour (as on my end) until the issue resolves itself again et cetera.

I hope it gets fixed soon; I feel weirdly unsecured during that time of malfunction.

Petersl

Hi,

I have same issue on my android but only the first 30 minutes after I've boot the device. I have also tried reinstalling the app but the issue persists.

I've made a post about this issue on this forum and I made a ticket about this issue with bitdefender support.

Gjoksi

Hello.

You could check my comment here:

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/338257#Comment_338257

(click on "2:35 pm" on right of my username to see the comment with the screenshots i posted)

Regards.

[Deleted User]

@Flexx ,

Confirming issue. After my Galaxy S21 starts, the two components show that they are off. After 30 minutes or so, the messages disappear. It could be a UI bug . . .

Have a great day.

Regards,

Phil

Flexx

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/99672/bd-mobile-security-scam-alert-and-anti-theft-both-turned-off-any-help

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/338210#Comment_338210

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/338310#Comment_338310

@agozob can you check on this post.

Regards

Abstruse21

Same issue. Pixel 7a latest android and Google updates as of today. Several hours in and still no response from anti theft or scam protection. Reinstalled. This is my kids device so I've sent commands from bitcentral on my device to fix issues. No progress and also scans not working.

ChrisSim

Hello everyone again,

I just wanted to come back here to say that the latest version of BDMS (3.3.236.2418) has seemingly fixed all the problems raised in this thread.

So thanks for the good work, Bitdefender! ^-^

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Alexandru_BD

Thank you @ChrisSim for your patience, appreciation and feedback! 👍️

ChrisSim

Hello @Alexandru_BD,

the Scam Alert function was found turned off on both of our devices. I cannot say when it exactly happened unfortunately but we both turned it on again now and hope that it stays as it is.

Is there any known issue regarding that feature?

Edit 1: It stays enabled even after a phone reboot. So far, I have not seen any other feature other than the aforementioned Scam Alert being affected.

Edit 2: I am running BDMS version 3.3.237.2421 currently. I see though that there is supposed to be a version 3.3.237.2422 if I am not mistaken. Maybe not for me (yet) because I am on Android 14 / One UI 6.1?

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Alexandru_BD

Hi @ChrisSim,

Precisely, a new version has been released on Friday, and this should fix the Scam Alert issue for good:

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/339279#Comment_339279

Regards,

Alex

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/339347#Comment_339347

Thanks for the input @Alexandru_BD, the new update was just offered to me. Great timing ^-^

Best regards,

Christian Simon

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/339347#Comment_339347

Hey @Alexandru_BD,

after the patch to 3.3.238.2425 it is off AGAIN. I do not want to pay attention to it all the time so I would be very happy if it stayed enabled for once :/

Edit: I see in the update history @Alexandru_BD posted above that it is a Scam Alert SDK patch; maybe consider for future updates to have them carry over the adjustments one has made prior to a new patch (if that is possible). Thanks! :)

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Alexandru_BD

Well that's odd. As far as I know, there haven't been any recent reports for this going off again, so presumably this is an isolated case. Did it turn off again lately?

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/339707#Comment_339707

Not an isolated case unfortunately; my mum just received the same update and it is off on her device now too. So if you install the patch, reboot your device and go to Scam Alert, you will find it disabled. If you turn it back on, it will stay in its enabled state at least.

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Alexandru_BD

@ChrisSim we'll have a look into this.

Thanks!

agozob

Hi @ChrisSim,

Thanks for reporting the issue, we're on it.

I did run a couple of tests and can confirm that Chat Protection got disabled after an update to 3.3.238.2425, followed by a device reboot. Turning the feature back on in the app does fix the problem and it doesn't seem to occur if the device is rebooted again, as you already stated, so that's a fix until we release a patch. We'll keep looking into it and come back with updates.

In the meantime, could you provide some more details on how you managed to reproduce this issue? Did the whole Scam Alert feature get turned off for you or was it just the Chat Protection toggle? Also, device details (model, OS version, etc) and screenshots of the problem are always very useful in any problem report :)

Your help is highly appreciated and we're sorry for the inconvenience.

ChrisSim

Hi @agozob,

thanks for the acknowledgement! :)

So to answer your questions: I personally check my BDMS app after (almost) every patch out of curiosity just to see if anything has changed so that is how I got aware of that Chat toggle being off. My mother received the patch days later – probably due to the fact that she has a different phone model – and we could observe the same behaviour there. As far as how much of the Scam Alert feature set was really affected, I cannot say for sure but I am quite certain it was just the Chat Protection toggle being disabled; my mother agrees with me there. Footage or any other proof we unfortunately cannot serve you with.

Device: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G / Samsung Galaxy A34 5G

OS: Android 14 / One UI 6.1

BD Mobile Security: 3.3.238.2425

(My mother uses the very same OS and BDMS version.)

Thanks for your attention and efforts! :)

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Petersl

@agozob @Alexandru_BD

Hi,

I just tested it on my device (HK1RBOX running android version 12), I turned the chat protection on and rebooted the device, after reboot the chat protection stays enabled on my device.

I do however have an other issue, when I boot my android device I connect it through a vpn app (expressvpn or nordvpn), then I open bitdefender mobile app and run a malware scan, the scan finishes correctly but when I then disconnect from my vpn and open the bitdefender mobile app it shows as a scan is running and it shows only the last app being scanned.

It does this scan indefinitely until I either press the stop scan button (which does not always works) or reboot the device.

However if I after I boot my android device and connect to the my vpn then open bitdefender mobile and run a malware scan, after the scan finishes I run a second scan and then when disconnecting from my vpn and open the bitdefender mobile app the scan is not running then and it shows as normal.

So to get around this issue I always scan 2 times.

Also when the first scan is running after boot of my device it shows the wrong animation. It shows the little cloud update animation and not the scanner animation. This corrects itself on the second scan, the correct scan animation is shown ending with the "checking threat database" little cloud update animation.

ChrisSim

Hey @Alexandru_BD and @agozob,

the latest patch I received today (3.3.241.2432) caused the following …

It disables the Web Protection feature; even a reboot does not fix it. And after turning it on and a following device reboot, it is off again!

The Scam Alert feature is shown as enabled but Chat Protection is disabled after the patch; when turning the feature back on, a subsequent device reboot does not disable it again.

I do not know what to say; please do some more testing before releasing patches. I just renewed my BDMS license for another 18 months and would prefer a more reliable performance in the future.

Thanks for your attention!

Best regards,

Christian Simon

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/339985#Comment_339985

PS: The very same problems do occur on my mum's phone. We experimented a little bit and could reproduce the error pattern(s) mentioned above on both of our devices. I forgot to mention that before; I am sorry.

Nunzio77

After the last update when the phone is turned on or restarted, web protection remains deactivated even on subsequent restarts. You have to reactivate it every time you turn it on.

Fix the bug.

Nunzio77

@Alexandru_BD and @agozob can you have the latest released version checked?
There is a bug that does not keep web protection active after each restart of the smartphone.

Thanks!

Alexandru_BD

Hello @Nunzio77,

Yes, help is on the way. I've discussed this with @agozob and the development team is actively looking into it. This will be fixed asap,

Thank you very much for the heads-up! 🤜🤛

Petersl

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340000#Comment_340000

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340013#Comment_340013

Hi,

I have the same issue on my android box since updating to version 3.3.241.2432, the "web protection" turns itself of after every boot and I have to turn it on manually.

ChrisSim

@Alexandru_BD and @agozob,

I installed BDMS version 3.3.241.2437 just now and it fixed the aforementioned bug with Web Protection and it all looked fine at first but after a phone reboot Chat Protection got disabled again:

If you turn it on, it stays on even after a phone restart so the same behaviour as I described in my comment below:

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/339340#Comment_339340

My mum has exactly the same erroneous behaviour so it is reproducible.

Thanks for your attention and work! :)

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Nunzio77

@Alexandru_BD and @agozob

Alexandru_BD

Hello @ChrisSim & @Nunzio77,

On Saturday, the latest BMS version 3.3.241.2437 was released and this strictly fixes the issue related to Web Protection.
The Chat Protection issue is still being investigated and another hotfix for that will soon follow, so there will be a minor 'follow up update' that will specifically address this.

Thank you for your patience and feedback! 🤜🤛

Gjoksi

@Alexandru_BD

Hello.

I just restarted my phone and it seems that with version 3.3.241.2437 the problem with the Web Protection module has been fixed.

But, as you already said the problem with the Chat Protection turning off by itself after device restart hasn't been fixed yet.

Regards.

ranger

Hello,

To those experiencing problems with features turning off, has anyone gone into the settings and checked whether the option to 'scan storage' is also disabled? I am surprised that nobody has mentioned it, because whenever I find that the other features are turned off, the option for scanning storage is usually also disabled. Am I the only one who has been experiencing that?

Best regards,

-ranger

ranger

Hello again,

Just in case I wasn't clear in my previous message, I've attached a screenshot to show the 'scan storage' option I was talking about. On my device, this often turns off at the same time as the other features that have been mentioned in this thread. Just curious if others experience this as well.

Best regards,

-ranger

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340231#Comment_340231

I do not think that specific problem ever occurred on my device/our devices but I will keep an eye on it! :)

PS: The German translation of Scan Storage (the explanation text below) is quite bad; it should be reworked.

Edit: What does the English text even mean either? "Include device storage in manual scans and on-mount" is no proper English either or am I just too bad at English/the technological vocab? ^^

Petersl

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340200#Comment_340200

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340202#Comment_340202

Hi,

I can confirm that version 3.3.241.2437 fixed the "web protection" issue for me, it now stays enabled after boot. I did have the"chat protection" turned off as well when I rebooted my device after the update but only one time.

Petersl

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340229#Comment_340229

Hi @ranger

On my device "storage scan" is on and stays on.

ChrisSim

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340231#Comment_340231

Could it be that your device handles permissions a little too strictly and that is why it is off at times? :)

Nunzio77

HI,
I updated to version 3.3.241.2437 and for now it seems to work well, after the first restart of the smartphone and subsequent restarts everything remains active as previously set.

RealMe 8 smartphone
Android 13

ranger

Hello,

'Thank you' to everyone for checking if their 'scan storage' option was also being turned off. I am surprised I was the only one. I assumed it had been related to the other issues in this thread, because they all started happening at the same time on my device, and they all continued recurring across multiple uninstalls/re-installs over some weeks. However, I haven't seen any of them turn off since re-installing again yesterday, so as long as I was the only one with that particular issue, I'll quietly pretend it never happened as long as it doesn't come up again. 😅 If it does, I'll make a separate thread. 😁

Best regards,

-ranger

manoraic

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/340266#Comment_340266

I have the same issue. scan storage' is disabled after a few seconds until reboot, after which it remains active longer. I'm struggling with symptoms described with Pegasus spyware.

ChrisSim

Hey @Alexandru_BD,

I have got some bigger issues since update 3.3.247.2457.

I receive a notification from BDMS after every phone reboot that a "new layer of protection is now available" (roughly paraphrased) but nothing happens when clicking on it; it just brings me to the BDMS app. I also just found Scam Alert as well as Web Protection to be turned off, the latter even switches itself off every time you leave the BDMS app. Anti-Theft toggles are partly turned off too. Download Scan is disabled too.

It is just a lot so I definitely missed some.

Please fix this as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Christian Simon

Flanksy

Good Day @ChrisSim,

I just went through the whole chat, I did see that you were using a samsung device. I had this particular issue where the download scans and also the scam alert auto turns off, I remember posting this on another page and I hope this helps you with the link below:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/32406/?srsltid=AfmBOor-CsjLA34gqmcdEWUROX38-VbiHyTqnGjupeeZgLdaMplQnNMc

I too had this issue with my family's device until I followed this. The device I had was a Samsung S20, Samsung A55, Samsung S24 and Samsung A35. It has been give and take 4-5 months that I have been monitoring these family devices and the scam alert as well as the download scans does not auto turn off. To what I have understand is that the Samsung device will force the Bitdefender App to shutdown if its not bypassed in the Battery section as well as the memory.

I hope this helps you and everyone here on this and I look forward to hear if it has helped you or not.

Best Regards,

Flanksy✌️

ChrisSim

So all the issues mentioned yesterday are now gone and I cannot tell why because nothing has changed at all. I also then installed the latest version (3.3.248.2458) and it is still fine so I am okay (for now) I guess.

Flanksy

Hiya @ChrisSim,

That is kind of a mystery to be honest but am glad it turned out in a good way for you. But do keep us updated if you're monitoring it.

Best Regards,

Flanksy✌️

manoraic

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/343542#Comment_343542

Hi @Flansky

In my case, the battery was set to unrestricted and allow background data usage was active, but bitdefender was still being deactivated. Once deactivated, "scan storage" would be turned off every time after about 2 seconds, after being manually activated, and the "download Scan" button could not be activated. In one case, I was able to get "download Scan" to be active after telling Bitdefender Central to fix the phone. In another case, I could activate it after updating apps in Google Play. But in most situations, I had to restart the phone. Lately, I found that if I clicked "close all" when swiping up, it would close 3 system apps and then "download Scan" could be made active again. I also found that the "always on VPN" for Netguard had been deactivated. Since reactivating "always on VPN" for Netguard, the intruding code hasn't been able to deactivate "download Scan" in the last 24h. If it happens again, I'll try to find out which of the 3 closable system apps were turning off the feature.

Regards, manoraic

manoraic

Hi @Flansky

I also uninstalled WhatsApp, Facebook, and all of my email programs, as mentioned regarding Pegasus Spyware. Now, slowly, bitdefender is being disabled less often. I strongly suspect that I'm being harassed with Pegasus for expressing political views.

Regards, manoraic

Flanksy

Hello @manoraic,

Glad to hear from you. I understand where you are coming from and I think this part would be better to get to the Bitdefender Support Team with the link as per below:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/

However, I just want to check and confirm with you that the Bitdefender Mobile Security App is added in this section of your samsung Battery profile which I will provide as a picture below for one of my current Samsung A55 which is running without issue just to try to help you out a little. If you have the Bitdefender Mobile Security App in this section, then please do get to the Bitdefender Customer Support with the link I have provided above.

As for the Pegasus Spyware, I would suggest the link below for reference:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1775/?srsltid=AfmBOorUVQVEKBabrb4YYg_1dzDqvUF9BYkAqV8pb0fF0WD-AS0ALbph

https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/protect-yourself-from-pegasus-the-most-advanced-mobile-spyware-in-the-world/?srsltid=AfmBOopKzMjkxc09KXV9WwVBPKHGGQszd7jbtTUDQ8WveT1cBxf87vCo%2F

Bitdefender Community Discussion:

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/101308/pegasus-spyware

I hope that these information are able to help you with this. I look forward to your reply if it works or not 😊

Best Regards,

Flanksy✌️

Flexx

Additionally, you can install the VirusTotal app for Android, which scans your device with multiple antimalware vendors and alerts you if any app installed on your Android device may be malicious and which antimalware is detecting it. You can download the VirusTotal app for Android from  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.funnycat.virustotal&hl=en_IN&pli=1

On the VirusTotal Android app, if nothing is detected, your device is malware-free. Look for results from well-known antimalware vendors, such as Bitdefender (which you already have installed), ESET, McAfee, Norton/Symantec, Avast/AVG, Avira, Trend Micro, Sophos, and Kaspersky. If anything is detected by other antimalware vendors, it may be a false positive or an incorrect detection.

Regards