How Do You Fix Your Smartphone when you get Hacked?

Fix Hacked Phone: A hacked phone is bad news, so if you believe yours has been hacked, you can patch it right away. This article discusses how to fix (as much as possible) the damage and resume your normal life.

How Do I Know If My Phone Has Been Hacked?

Losing charge rapidly, running slowly, unusual behavior such as pop-up windows or unexpected applications appearing, or unfamiliar calls or texts in your phone logs are all indicators that your phone has been hacked.

***Note

Since hackers often use the autologin function with saved passwords to access your accounts from your phone, a hacked phone may also lead to hacked online accounts. So, after you’ve followed this guide to repair your phone, make sure you reclaim ownership of your compromised Facebook, Google, and email accounts.

Causes of a Hacked Phone

Hackers can gain access to your phone for a number of purposes, not all of which are entirely beyond your control.

– Visiting a website that installs malware on your phone by clicking on links on social media sites.

– Choosing malicious software-installing links in phishing emails.

– SIM card theft is when a hacker persuades the provider to give you a new SIM card.

– Hackers used a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi link to connect to your phone.

– The effects are generally the same, regardless of how hackers installed malware or a virus on your phone. Any details on your phone would be used by the hacker to make money in some way.

This can involve looking through your phone’s archives for personal or confidential details such as bank account numbers, social security numbers, or passwords to online accounts.

Also, Read: iPhone VS Android: Which Smartphone Is Better For You?

How to Fix It If Your Phone Was Hacked

Using the steps below, you can clean your phone and rid it of hacking activity. These updates are available to any Android phone maker and any version of Android.

1. To begin, enable Android Safe Mode. Remove any newly installed or unrecognized apps from your Android once this feature is activated. Even, keep an eye out for secret software. Open the Google Play Store app and pick My apps & games, then filter Installed apps by Last Updated to see recently installed apps on your Android. Uninstalling unknown or recently installed apps may aid in the removal of any potentially malicious applications you may have installed by mistake.

***Note:

Why do you use Android Safe Mode before uninstalling apps? In Safe Mode, Android disables all third-party applications from running, as well as any unwanted background software. This helps you to uninstall unused applications from your phone without encountering any issues.

2. Install and run antivirus software on your mobile device. These applications will search your phone for malicious files and apps that compromise your phone’s protection and will uninstall them permanently.

3. If you’ve rooted your Android phone, you’ve gained access to parts of the device that are usually concealed behind security settings. To undo this, you’ll need to use a root app such as SuperSU to unroot your Android and restore protection.

**Note:
Rooting or unrooting your Android phone will cause it to “brick” and become unusable. If this happens to you, you’ll need to take the steps below to unbrick your Android and, if possible, restore it.

4. Reset the lock screen and PIN code on your Android computer. If a hacker did get access to your login details and compromised your phone this way, they won’t be able to get back in until your Android is restarted. For added protection, you can use screen pinning to lock apps.

5. Passwords for accounts should be changed. If you use Office365 applications, you can need to reset your Microsoft account, your Instagram password, or even your Gmail account. It may be inconvenient to change all of your passwords, but it’s the only way to guarantee that all of your accounts are safe if a hacker has been successful on your phone.

Also, Read: How To: Fix Crashing System on Android Smartphones

**Note:

Consider using a free password manager app on your Android to secure all of your accounts from potential hacks. This protects your passwords with an extra layer of protection, making it more difficult for hackers to gain access to your accounts.

6. Your SIM card could have been cloned or compromised if you no longer receive phone calls or text messages, see unidentified numbers or calls on your bill, or a location tracking app reveals an incorrect location for your phone. A hacker normally accomplishes this by using social engineering to persuade your wireless provider to give them a new SIM card for your account. If you believe this, call your wireless provider and tell them that your SIM card has been cloned. They will help you uninstall the cloned SIM card and replace it with a valid one.

**Note:

Since the hacker was able to get your wireless provider to send them a SIM card, it’s important to take some time to work with the provider and ensure all of your personal contact and billing information is still correct. Also, ensure that they have a secondary contact phone number on file that they can use for confirmation if anyone ever calls asking to make any changes to your current phone’s wireless plan.