6 KEY SIGNS TO TELL IF YOUR PHONE IS BEING TRACKED

Tue 16 April 2024:

It can be absolutely frightening to think about the possibility of someone else gaining access to our smartphone. In films, hackers are portrayed as enigmatic characters wearing sweatshirts who can cause chaos with a few keystrokes.

However, it’s not always the end of the world when a phone is hacked. Regaining control over your device and ensuring the security of your data can be done successfully.

So how to know if your phone is being tapped or monitored?

Background noise during calls

If you hear clicking noise, or distant voices during your calls, high chances your phone is being tapped.

Reduced battery performance

If your phone is bugged, all your activity will be getting transmitted to a third party app, which will drain your battery faster.

Cameras and microphones turn on randomly

If you see green lights above your iPhones screen, chances are someone may be listening in to you. If the light goes on and off, it means a piece of malware has been installed into your phone.

You receive unusual texts

Getting weird text messages with random number and symbols? Spy software’s work by sending coded messages to your phone. These texts are only visible when the software isn’t working properly.

Websites look different

A malicious software can change the way our phones perform tasks such as displaying websites.

Battery feels warm

Another tell tale of your phone being tapped is that malware heats your battery up.

How To Remove a Hacker From Your Phone

Use antivirus software. When antivirus software detects a piece of malware, it quarantines it to prevent it from affecting the rest of your phone. Once quarantined, you can safely remove the infection and stop it from spreading. For this to work, though, your antivirus software has to be on and running in the background all the time.
Contact businesses. Contact any financial services or e-commerce businesses that have your credit card or bank account information, which is very sensitive information indeed. Find out which transactions you need to dispute with your bank and, in some cases, report for fraud.
Delete apps. If you see any apps on your phone that you didn’t download, delete them.
Factory-reset your phone. If, after doing all those things, you still believe someone else has taken control of your phone, your last resort is to factory-reset your device. Doing so removes all files and apps from your phone, but it ensures that whatever the hacker used to gain entry will also be removed.
- iPhone:
  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Click “General.”
  3. Click “Reset.”
  4. Click “Erase All Content and Settings.”
  5. Enter your passcode or Apple ID password.1
- Samsung Android version 5.0 or above:
  1. Click “Apps.”
  2. Click “Settings.”
  3. Click “Backup and Reset.”
  4. Choose “Factory Data Reset.”
  5. Choose “Reset Device.”
  6. Click “Erase Everything.”2
Change your passwords. Finally, change the passwords of any breached accounts — a good practice for whenever your login credentials are involved in a data breach.