Science in The World presents you: shocking signs your phone might be hacked!
How much time do you spend on your phone on a daily basis? I don’t like to admit it, but I spent around 2 hours on my phone, scrolling and just wasting time on social media platforms, talking to people, watching videos, or simply texting.
If you’re like me and your phone is with you at all times, you must protect it at all costs because it contains a lot of personal information. However, given the fact that more than 2.5 billion people use smartphones every day, it is no wonder that these gadgets have become the main target for hackers.
Have you ever noticed that your beloved gadget is acting pretty weird but have no idea why? Here’s the worst-case scenario answer: it might be hacked. Of course, it might work slower than usual because it’s old and you need to empty its memory, or maybe you need a new one, but there are also signs your phone might be hacked.
So, how can you know for sure what the problem is, so you know how to address it and make it better? First things first, you have to read this article because we’ll talk about all those signs your phone might be hacked. Here’s what you should look out for:
1. Your phone works way slower than normal
As we already discussed at the beginning of this article, there are multiple reasons why your smartphone doesn’t work as it used to: it’s too old and it simply can’t support your data; maybe you don’t have that much memory left and you need to change it; or maybe the operating system should be updated.
Unfortunately, working slower than usual is also one of the signs that your phone might be hacked. When your smartphone is working slower than normal and is hacked, it means that there’s malware running in the background of your gadget, which makes your apps function badly.
If you don’t know how to determine whether your phone is the victim of hackers or not, you can look up a tutorial on the Internet, or maybe you can ask a specialist for guidance. Keep reading, there are many other signs your phone might be hacked!
2. Your smartphone receives and sends messages that are old
I know that it might sound weird and not that possible in real life, but there are many cases when people received or even “sent” text messages that were extremely old, such as a couple of months to roughly two years.
There are many signs your phone might be hacked, but there are also other cases. For instance, if you notice this weird thing, it might be because your gadget is old or maybe your operating system is not up to date.
Pay close attention to the way your phone is behaving because it might be a scam. So, have you ever seen any old texts that somehow appeared on your smartphone? It’s one of the signs your phone might be hacked!
3. You notice new apps
There are many other signs your phone might be hacked, so let’s continue talking about them because this information can be useful. According to tech experts, an average individual has around 80 apps installed on their gadget.
It’s true that keeping track of all the apps on your smartphone isn’t an easy job, especially since plenty of them are already installed on your phone when you buy them.
One thing you could do is analyze all the apps on your phone and delete those that you don’t use. You can also take it a step further if you want, and you can note down the apps that are on your gadget. If after a while you observe that the number of apps is bigger than what you wrote down, it might be one of the signs your phone might be hacked.
4. Your phone is hot to the touch
This probably isn’t a shocking thing to find out, but the temperature of your smartphone depends on how much you actually use it. However, one of the clearest signs your phone might be hacked is when it’s hot to the touch.
This happens because there’s malware in the background, and it requires a lot of power from your device to be able to run it. This additional work equals overheating, so be careful because it can get pretty serious.
Signs your phone might be hacked: do you agree with any of these?
5. Your gadget wants to access weird sites
Another one of these shocking signs that your phone might be hacked is this one: your device wants to access several suspicious sites. When your phone is a victim of malware, you might notice that there is doubtful activity going on, such as your device trying to access sites or content that is generally considered bad. Be careful with this because it is one of the most popular signs your phone might be hacked.
6. Your battery drains faster and faster
The older your phone is, the faster the battery is going to drain, but pay attention to this because it is one of the main signs your phone might be hacked. The first thing you have to do when you notice that your battery is acting crazy is to check if you have lots of apps open in the background.
The reason I tell you to do that is because those background apps that might seem innocent actually burn through lots of data, meaning that they’ll make your battery weak. You can avoid this by restricting background app data.
One of the easiest ways to protect your battery is to not spend a lot of time scrolling, and besides that, there are also other effective ways to improve the life of your battery.
However, if you make sure that everything looks pretty normal and your battery is still drained after a couple of hours or even a day, it can be one of the signs that your phone might be hacked.
Keep reading to discover other signs your phone might be hacked!
7. Weird pop-ups
Let’s continue with these signs your phone might be hacked, because you need to be prepared. Pop-ups can be annoying, so if you see way more than usual, brace yourself because there might be a problem. According to tech experts, the constant appearance of suspicious pop-ups is one of the clearest signs that your phone might be hacked.
The explanation is that your device might be infected with adware, which is a type of malicious software that sends you ad after ad, which is pretty annoying and not healthy for your gadget either.
Here’s one thing to remember: if you notice suspicious ads or links on your phone, don’t click on any of them, but rather take your device to a professional or scan it with a free adware cleaner to get rid of the bad work of a hacker.
8. You get unknown texts and calls
We’re almost at the end of our list of signs that your phone might be hacked, but we still have some things to talk about. For instance, while tech experts say it is pretty uncommon for someone to hack into your gadget with a regular phone call, phone hackers can use text messages to put malware into your beloved gadget.
Let’s say that you have an iPhone, and they sent you a phishing text that contains a link. You might be tempted to see what the link is about, so you click it, but that’s the moment your phone gets infected. Moreover, it can get access to your contacts and friend list on social media and even send this message to them.
Other than that, there are message hacks that don’t require any interaction, meaning that you don’t have to click on anything to have a hacked device at the end of the day.
You can spare yourself the trouble by using an encrypted messaging app and other iPhone security apps that you know and trust. These are only a couple of clear signs your phone might be hacked, so if you want to know more, leave a comment down below and say “part II”.
What do you think about these signs that your phone might be hacked? Have you ever experienced something like this?
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