Are you afraid that someone is spying on you, thanks to your smartphone? Here are some tricks to understand if your phone has been tapped
Nowadays, you can find a bit of everything in the memory of a smartphone. From holiday photos to work documents through messages exchanged with friends, acquaintances, and office colleagues. The device also contains the credentials to access the banking profile and other essential information.
We shouldn’t be surprised, therefore, if there are hackers and various cyber criminals ready to do anything to be able to spy on the smartphones of poor (and unaware) unfortunates. If you have doubts that someone is spying on you, below you will find three tricks to understand whether your smartphone is intercepted. This is “basic” advice, requiring no advanced technical knowledge or special procedures. In short, they are accessible to everyone.
- Excessive data consumption
- The battery runs out immediately
- Noises during calls
- Strange typos
- Check for suspicious apps
- Smartphone intercepted: how to solve it
Table of Contents
Excessive Data Consumption
One of the first warning signs that could confirm that your smartphone is being intercepted is excessive data consumption. When consumption increases for no reason, it could be due to the “work” of a tracker installed without the user’s knowledge.
It is advisable to check the consumption by going to the Settings section dedicated to the data connection of the individual applications to identify any “out of place” apps causing excessive data consumption.
To check the apps’ data consumption on your iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular and scroll down to consult the list of apps. For Android smartphones, you can look at the in-depth information on how to control data usage on Android.
The Battery Runs Out Immediately
Excessive battery consumption is another clue that could confirm that your smartphone is under control. Tracker and spyware apps don’t just send data but can stress your device, causing excessive energy consumption.
If the battery starts running out quickly, your smartphone could be “under control.” To check if an app consumes more than it should, you can go to the Battery section of Settings.
Noises During Calls
Have you been hearing strange noises during calls for a few days now? There are three hypotheses:
- The cell phone antennas have reception problems (that is, they are breaking).
- The operator’s network has some problems in your area.
- Someone is spying on your smartphone.
The second hypothesis can be verified very simply: call the operator’s assistance center and ask if there are any known problems in your area. If this were not the case, the first and third hypotheses remain valid, but the clues strongly point towards this last hypothesis.
Strange Typos
Has your phone’s automatic corrector started going crazy, and you can’t explain why? Someone could have installed a keylogger on your smartphone and is recording everything you type in the hope of intercepting some interesting information such as email or social media login credentials; messages exchanged with your colleagues and friends, or home passwords. Banking.
Check For Suspicious Apps
A tracker to intercept your smartphone can hide inside another app. To understand if your smartphone is being intercepted, it may be helpful to check for the presence of “strange” apps on your device (especially if it is an Android smartphone).
Apps whose origin is unknown could be trackers in disguise. It is, therefore, better to analyse all the apps on your device and, if necessary, proceed with their removal by uninstalling them.
Smartphone Intercepted: How To Solve It.
In most cases, an intercepted smartphone has to deal with malicious software inside it. Such software may have been installed surreptitiously, often within another app. One of the main options to defend yourself in these cases is to format your smartphone.
In this way, you restore your device’s factory settings, eliminating any application added after the first startup. Any spy software, therefore, will be quickly eliminated thanks to quick formatting.
You may also consider installing anti-malware software. Many security apps can quickly identify the presence of trackers and other software designed to intercept users by monitoring smartphone use. Simply connect to your device’s store to download an app of this type and scan your smartphone.
An alternative could be changing your smartphone so you can use a “clean” device without malicious software. Furthermore, in this way, whoever is intercepting the smartphone will not be able to know that they have been discovered.
Also Read: Why Won’t My Smartphone Charge?
