The 6 most obvious signs your phone has been hacked
If your personal computer has ever been infected by some kind of virus or malware, you will know very well that it is an unpleasant situation. But did you know that this can also happen to your phones and tablets? Hackers have multiple reasons and numerous ways to infect your devices. However, there is no need to panic. There are many ways to find out if your phone was hacked and you can even fix it yourself.
The most common ways to hack a phone
Hackers have countless approaches to access your phone without your consent. Here we leave you some of the most common:
• Phishing messages
• Use of fake public Wi-Fi hotspots
• USB charging stations that have been corrupted
• Spyware Programs • Bluesnarfing or Blue sniping (Hacking via Bluetooth connection).
How to know if your phone has been hacked
Next, you will discover what are the most common symptoms that appear when your phone has been hacked. Some can be quite innocuous but if your phone has several of them, they will help you to realize that your phone is compromised.
1. Your device slows down, overheats, or drains its battery for no reason
There are several reasons why a phone can slow down, overheat, or start draining the battery. You only have to worry if you have not made any updates to the Operating System recently and you are not using applications that consume many resources. Since if these symptoms appear without you having made any modifications to the system, it can be a clear sign that there is malware running stealthily. Hackers may be using your phone to mine cryptocurrencies, which consumes a lot of system resources. That is why you should check what apps are running, how much memory you are using, and how much free space you have on your device. If you can't find the reason, your phone may be infected with a malicious program.
2. Your contacts receive messages that you never sent them
Malware on your phone can use your email, text messages, and instant messaging services to spread to your contacts. They usually spread in the form of messages on your behalf, containing a link or a file that could infect other devices. If someone mentions you about suspicious activity in the messages you send, then you should investigate and get to the bottom of it.
3. Your data consumption increases without you doing anything
Unexpected increases in data usage could mean that your phone has been hacked to send data; For example, they could be stealing your multimedia files, spying on WhatsApp for free, or mining cryptocurrencies. It can also mean that the hacker is spying on you or something similar. Check the data usage of your apps and see which app could be the culprit. On the other hand, if you see calls that you don't remember making on your phone bill, it could also be a red flag. If you find unknown phone numbers, there is a possibility that your phone has been hacked and that criminals are using it as a proxy server. You should also be on the lookout for strange sounds and interference during calls. Sure, it could just be a problem with signal reception. However, it is also a clear sign that your equipment has been tapped and someone is spying on your calls.
4. You realize that there is a new application or your antivirus program was uninstalled
The former means that someone (a hacker, a jealous partner, or someone else) has installed spyware on your phone. The second can be the effects of a virus trying to protect itself (malware can often uninstall antivirus programs).
5. Your phone settings have mysteriously changed
If your phone has been physically tampered with, the person in charge has probably changed the settings manually. If you notice that Bluetooth is on even though you haven't been using it, this may mean that the malware has been using it to infect other devices (or to send data).
6. The phone reboots for no reason, does not turn off completely or behaves erratically
If your phone reboots without any prompt, don't turn off when you try to do it manually, or opens apps and dials phone numbers on its own, it's a very bad sign. Bugs in the software cause that. Which can also translate into the presence of a virus or that a hacker is accessing your phone remotely.
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