Identifying Mobile Surveillance: Are You Being Watched by Your Own Device?

Modern smartphones are highly advanced. Today, phones are not just used for calling and exchanging texts. Instead, smartphones are mini pocket PC that you can use for thousands of different complex tasks such as sending & receiving texts, videos, images, emails, using banking websites, social media platforms, and many more.

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Your smartphone also contains lots of your confidential data that can infringe your privacy if got into the wrong hands. With cybercriminals using advanced technology to conduct online crimes, the spying on phones and stealing private data has increased considerably.

The disturbing thing is spying, especially on Android phones, has become comparatively easy. Even if you safeguard your device with a unique and robust password, the smartphone is still vulnerable to spying activities. Your phone might contain some apps that pretend to be genuine and useful, but in reality, they are spyware programs .

Unfortunately, many users might unknowingly install such apps without knowing the real intention behind them. Though it is pretty challenging to detect spyware applications manually, there are some ways through which you can tell if someone is spying on your phone.

Let us discuss those.

Can Someone Hack my Phone by Texting me?

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Why would someone Spy on me?

There could be various reasons someone would want to monitor your smartphone activities and gather sensitive data. Here are a few major ones:

• Your ex or current partner might want to monitor your online activities to know details about you.
• If you are running a business, you might have some essential data and details on your phone. Your competitors might want to access that information.
• Cybercriminals will use spyware apps to gain your banking details and empty your account.
• Some people might want to spy on your phone for blackmailing you and gaining extortion in return.
• Government authorities might spy on your phone if they find something suspicious related to you.

Is someone spying on my phone?

There is no direct way to know the presence of spyware programs. However, there are a few indications that can give you a hint of the existence of such malicious apps.

The Decline in Phone’s Performance

When any spyware or any other malware program infiltrates your device, your phone’s performance would suddenly decline. The smartphone would constantly hang and might even frequently shut down.

Increase in RAM Consumption

The spyware hidden on your system will always be active in the background. This would increase the RAM consumption, and hence other apps would not get the required RAM amount to run.

Unusual Data Usage

If you noticed that the internet data usage of your device has suddenly risen, even though you are using the internet as you do regularly, this might be because of a spyware app. The spyware applications might be using the internet to transfer your data to its source. The spyware might also use the internet to upgrade itself with new malicious codes. It requires a considerable amount and continuous flow of the internet.

Odd Sounds during Calls

The modern cell phone networks are pretty advanced and very rarely get distorted. So, while on calls, if you get odd sounds or hear someone else’s voice other than the person you have called, it might be possible that your call is being secretly monitored and recorded.

The Battery is Draining Rapidly

It is normal for an older phone to have diminished battery capacity. However, if your smartphone’s battery has suddenly started to drain rapidly, it might be because of the secret background activities going on your phone. Spyware programs work silently in the background, so they consume the battery power without showing any visible sign.

Phone getting hot

You might experience your phone getting hot while playing games and performing other resource-consuming tasks. It is expected on modern phones, especially those with a metal finish. However, if your phone is heating up even without much heavy use, then probably the spyware silently working in the background is causing that.

Phone Turn Off problem

Some highly advanced spyware programs could create hindrances in the smartphone’s shutdown process. The spyware might delay the process or even block the turn-off process to continue their spying.

9 App Permissions to Avoid on Android

How to remove Spyware from the phone?

Through the hints listed above, you might be able to detect the spyware application installed on your device. You can use the following ways to remove the culprit Android malware .

Uninstall the Spyware App through Phone Settings

1. Now you know the culprit app, all you have to do is uninstall it.
2. To remove this app go to Settings and tap on Apps & Notifications.
3. Now locate the app that you want to delete. Tap on it, and choose Uninstall.

If you see the Uninstall option is greyed out or it is not there, then it means that the app has admin rights. Some apps that have malware get admin rights to exploit the resources. They also do it so that users cannot remove them easily. However, it doesn’t mean that you cannot remove it. To remove the admin rights apps, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Device admin apps.
2. Now tap on the checkbox and then tap on Deactivate this device admin app.
3. Again go to the Apps & notifications to remove it.

Use MalwareFox Android Antimalware

If you followed the above steps and your problem is not solved then take the help of MalwareFox. It will also help you if you don’t know which app has malware. It automatically detects malware and removes them.

1. Download MalwareFox Antimalware .
2. Launch the app and tap on the MalwareFox Menu button.
3. Then tap on Settings.
4. Enable these options as shown in the image. Anti-Keylogger and Real-Time Protection are the premium features. If you want those features, then visit the MalwareFox website and purchase the license for Android.

Best Antivirus for Android 2021

Summing Up

Spyware or other malware can perform many malicious tasks after infiltrating your device. Your phone contains a lot of essential data that’s why it is essential to prevent infiltration of malware on Android . The ways listed in this post will help you to tell if someone is spying on your phone or not. You can also remove the spyware applications after their detection.

Can someone see you through your phone camera?

The sincere answer to that is NO. There are many claims to spy on someone through their phone camera but they are often misleading – just half-truths or outright lies.

Can someone hack my phone from their phone by texting?

Yes, someone can hack your phone by texting you. Such methods are called smishing or phishing. These attacks allow hackers to access your phone through texts.

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