How to know if your cell phone has been tapped and what to do to protect yourself

You don’t have to be a businessman or a high-level politician for someone to wiretap your cell phone. It’s not just cell phones that intervene to listen in on conversations or steal photos. They can also lead them to steal money by consuming data or paying for a service we never contracted, something we are all exposed to.

There are barely perceptible signals that we don’t take into account due to the logic of life that takes place day by day at great speed, which doesn’t allow us to pay attention to details. Some data that give a clue that the mobile phone could be taken by another can be:

Exaggerated data consumption

If your cell phone is intercepted, the person who did it must send the information they deem important from your device. This includes locations, passwords, emails, files, and even call tracking.

For no reason

It may also happen that the GPS or Internet function (Wi-Fi or mobile data) can be enabled or disabled by itself and pop-up windows appear showing ads or unknown applications without the user’s consent, ”he explains to clarion Mario Micucci, security specialist at ESET Latin America.

Battery with a lot of consumption

Using spy applications, updating them and generating and sending reports all day long is something that consumes energy because it works in the background, i.e. secretly. High consumption without using the mobile phone in a day is a good indicator, along with the device heating up for no reason.

Navigator

“Browser homepage changes unexpectedly. Even if new and/or unidentifiable icons appear on the taskbar,” says a clarion Luis Corrons, digital security expert at Avast.

Calls to unknown numbers

It may be helpful to check incoming and outgoing call details on your device and check for unknown numbers. There are ways to “double” your phone number and simply enjoy your service, at your bill of course.

Apps you’ve never installed

There are applications used to spy on and capture information entered into sites or apps, such as usernames and passwords. But fortunately it is almost impossible to hide an application on a mobile phone. You need to review the list of installed applications and delete those that are not recognized. Here you must always be careful not to delete those that have been installed “from the factory” on the mobile.

line noise

Although less massive, call monitoring is a reality. In these cases, the safest thing is to be registered. You may hear “noise” such as interference or even cross calls.

Another way to know if the mobile has intervened, and if so, to eliminate any possibility, is through some codes that you dial directly as a call and tell you the status on the screen, they work for both Android and iPhone :

##002#. Dialing this code removes all call forwarding.

*#62#. This code will tell which number calls are redirected to when your mobile is switched off or out of area. A number from your company may appear, which is normal.

*#twentyone#. Unlike the previous one, this code also tells you verbatim if a service is diverted.

Tips to avoid falling into traps

Password on home screen. Unauthorized installed apps need a password to remain active if they try to change the security settings on your device.

Only install apps from the official app store. It might be the case that this app is actually a virus in disguise and you are giving it access to the mobile.

Install an antivirus. There are some that are free.

mistrust. “Do not open links received in text messages from unknown numbers and avoid chatting with strangers in messaging applications,” adds Luis Corrons.

Keep your operating system up to date. The cell phone, always in your pocket. Some types of interventions are carried out only by taking the cell phone for a few minutes in a physical way. Don’t leave him alone for too long.

always on guard. “It is important to be vigilant and think twice before acting, social engineering today is the discipline par excellence to implement techniques that allow attackers to take over our data and, in this case, our telephone lines. No official body will ask for sensitive information to carry out various actions, in this sense it is important not to reveal sensitive information (passwords, credit cards, confirmation codes and information of similar characteristics) with any means of communication” says Micucci.

And he closes: “Before replying to a message, it is important to validate the origin and exclude that it is an individual impersonating another, just as it is also important to think twice before clicking on a link or downloading files” .