How to Check if Your Phone is Under Surveillance: Stay Ahead of the Game

These days most of your personal life and information is present on the internet in some way or the other. That is why hackers and notorious elements try to target your smartphones and steal all of your information. Just the thought of being under surveillance is scary but how to check if your phone is under surveillance remains a top question.

While there is no exact way of confirming if your phone is under surveillance or not, there are some red flags that point toward something wrong with your phone. If these symptoms check out for your phone, there might be something wrong and there is a chance that your phone is hacked and under surveillance.

In this guide, you will understand how to check if your phone is under surveillance, the reasons behind it, and what is the next step forward.

How to Check If Your Phone is Hacked or Not?

Dramatic Battery Loss

The very first thing to notice is your battery loss. Usually, you have a pretty good idea of how much your smartphone’s battery lasts on average use.

Now the average use can differ from person to person but still, you can compare the battery life by seeing how long it lasts.

If you are observing a significant amount of battery loss even with your standard use, there might be something wrong.

Sometimes, it is the software updates or bugs that can cause battery drain which is why you need to check for some other symptoms as well. But a dramatic battery drain is something that you should worry about.

Also Read: Fast Charging Apps for Android

Unwanted Apps on Your Phone

If you notice some apps on your phone that you have not installed then it is one of the biggest red flags. The clear question arises: where did these apps come from? Well, it could have been from some unknown link that you tapped on or someone might have hacked your phone.

First of all, you need to rule out the possibility of your friend, and family members installing that app on your phone. If there is an app that you and anyone who has access to your phone have not installed, it can be another red flag indicating that you might be under surveillance.

Overheating of the Phone

When your phone is hacked, it takes a lot of resources from the system. First of all, you are using your phone like you normally do, and that requires resources. On top of that, there is surveillance data transferred to another server from your phone which again requires resources.

So combine all of these things and you get all the resources overworking which can cause overheating of the phone. A good way to identify is to check if the phone is overheating even when it is idle. If that is the case, then this is another red flag as an idle phone shouldn’t be overheating.

Increased Data Usage

If your phone is hacked then of course the hackers need the surveillance data and activity from your phone to their servers. To achieve that, a data connection is a must so that your phone activity can be sent to them. For that, your phone’s data or internet data is used. If you see significant data usage on your phone then there is something wrong.

You can just go to the data usage settings and see which apps are using data. If there is an app that is using more data than it should and it is not even that important, you can simply uninstall it.

Phone Malfunctioning

If your phone is under surveillance then your phone will see a significant performance drop. As mentioned earlier, surveillance takes extra resources out of your phone and leads to overheating and malfunctioning of the device. If you are facing this issue and your smartphone is fairly new then there might be something wrong.

Odd Browser History and Social Media Activity

You should keep checking your browser history and social media activity every now and then. If there are terms and sites in your history that you never search for or visit then there is definitely something wrong and someone else has access to your account.

The same goes for social media accounts as well. If there is something off like weird posts in your feed, posts from people you don’t follow, or messages sent from your account that you didn’t send then your account is probably hacked.

Unwanted Background Noise During Calls

Another red flag to check is unwanted background noise. If you make a call to someone and you feel like there is a third line on your call and you get weird noises in the background then it is a sign of worry. There is a very strong chance that your call is under surveillance.

Weird Popups

If you get weird ads and popups and you have no clue which apps might be displaying these popups then there is a chance that your phone is under surveillance.

So those are some of the symptoms that indicate that your phone might be under surveillance. If your phone just has one of the symptoms from the list, then there could be other explanations for it and it does not necessarily mean that it is hacked. But if all the symptoms check out then there is something that you should do.

How Does it Happen?

Now you might be interested in knowing how can a hacker put my phone under surveillance. Well, in most cases, it is careless mistakes from our side that make our phones vulnerable to surveillance and hacking.

Installing Apps from Untrusted Sources

If you install apps from untrusted sources then they can have some malware or malicious code that can hack your phone. It is always recommended that you only download apps from Google Play Store or App Store as they are trusted sources. Also, keep Google Play Protect turned on every time if you have an Android phone.

Clicking on Malicious Links

Sometimes you get malicious links in your email, messages from unknown senders, and sometimes from known senders too. You should never click on those links. Also, you should avoid downloading anything from unknown links.

Using Public WiFi

Using public WiFi services for normal stuff like online reading, and watching videos is okay but you should not enter any passwords for any accounts when you are on public WiFi. Also, avoid doing any transactions using public WiFi. Just comes to your home and do all of these necessary things or use your cellular data connection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

So that was all about how to check if your phone is under surveillance or not. There is a series of red flags that you have to check and if your phone checks all or the majority of them, then your phone might be under surveillance. You can do a malware scan using a trusted app or you can also reset your phone to resolve this issue.

Also Read:
Can WiFi Owner See What Sites I Visit On Phone?
Why Does My Phone Hang Up Itself?
Does Your Phone Charge Faster on Low Power Mode?
How Many Times Does A Phone Ring Before It Goes To Voicemail?
Why is My Phone Dying on Charger?