Welcome back to Tales from the Monkey Bar, your weekly peek behind the scenes at Lithgow’s geekiest tech support team. Every week, we help customers with everything from annoying pop-ups to massive data recoveries—and we’re not shy about sharing our secrets.
Why? Because our Monkey Bar Help Desk isn’t just about fixing tech problems—we’re here to teach, empower, and support our community. Whether you live in Lithgow or just stumbled on this post from afar, we hope our stories help you dodge a few digital disasters.
📝 This Week’s Scorecard
- 5 Android phones cleaned of adware
- 2 Scams stopped in their tracks
- 1 Zoom audio mystery solved
- 12,000 photos rescued from a forgotten iPad
📱 The Ad Malware Epidemic (Especially on Android)
Let’s talk about a growing issue we’ve seen a lot lately—full-screen ad attacks on Android phones.
Imagine this: you’re trying to make a call, check the weather, or look at photos—then BAM! A full-screen ad takes over. Seconds later, another. And another. It’s frustrating, invasive, and in some cases, downright dangerous.
One gentleman this week had it particularly rough. His Bluetooth hearing aids were hijacked by loud, looping ads on his phone. Not only could he not use the phone—he couldn’t hear anything else either. We could see the frustration all over his face.
🎯 What’s Causing It?
These aren’t traditional viruses, so most antivirus apps don’t catch them. Instead, it’s shady apps serving ads for profit. Here are some of the repeat offenders:
- “Free” weather apps
- Fake antivirus or phone cleaning tools
- Pop-up blockers (ironic, we know)
- Battery saver and PDF reader apps
- Even a few Bible apps (no disrespect to religion—just bad coding)
- Solitaire launchers and “photo recovery” apps
They often install in packs, so when we find one, we usually find two or three more. This week’s “winner” had 12different ad-generating apps installed.
🛠 How We Fix It
- Airplane mode slows the ads down.
- Open Settings → Apps and start uninstalling.
- Always remove the most recently installed apps first.
- Skip the antivirus—go manual.
Pro tip: My personal best for clearing an ad-packed phone? 4 minutes and 36 seconds.
🚫 Is This a Scam? (Short Answer: Probably)
We had two walk-ins this week asking if messages they received were scams. Both were. The good news? They asked before clicking.
Our policy is simple:
If you ask us whether something’s a scam, we don’t charge.
We’ll look at your screen, your email, or your weird text message and give you a straight answer—for free.
Because let’s be honest: it’s better to spend 60 seconds at the support desk than 6 hours cleaning out malware.
(Yes, we do charge for removing remote access software and fixing scam damage. But we’d rather prevent it in the first place.)
🎧 The Zoom Audio Puzzle (Hint: Updates Matter)
This one’s a classic.
A client came in with Zoom not working properly on their laptop. Audio issues, app glitches, you name it. After a quick look, we saw the problem—their PC hadn’t been updated in months.
Here’s the thing: while we totally understand people avoiding Windows updates (they’re not exactly known for subtlety), skipping them creates bigger problems. Especially when it comes to programs like Zoom.
At the tech support desk, we’ve learned the hard way:
“If it’s a weird software issue, check for updates before anything else.”
In this case? A quick system update and Zoom was back to normal. No digging. No head-scratching. Just a simple fix.
🖼️ Bonus Round: 12,000 Memories Recovered
Yes, that number is correct—12,000 photos pulled from an old iPad that wouldn’t boot. It took a little finesse, but we got everything off and backed up safely.
The customer cried. We might have too. 💾💛
💡 Tech Tip of the Week
If your device is acting weird, don’t panic. Just visit the Monkey Bar.
We’re always here at 85 Main Street, Lithgow, ready to help—no appointment needed (yet). Whether it’s a weird noise, a scammy popup, or you just want to ask a “stupid” question (spoiler: there’s no such thing), we’re your local help desk heroes.
🗺️ Need Help?
👉 Visit the Monkey Bar Help Desk: lithgowtech.com/we-can-help-you-with-your-computer-or-phone
Have a tech question? Just walk in and ask.
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