As hackers continue to improve their methods, it can be tricky to tell if your phone has been compromised. But, despite their sneaky tactics there are some telltale signs to know if you are being tracked.

Unusual Battery Drain. One of the most common signs that your phone is being tracked is an unusual battery drain.

Tracking apps use GPS, and other sensors in your phone to collect data, and this process consumes a lot of battery power. So, if you notice that your phone is losing its charge quickly, it is a good idea to check if there is any tracking app installed on your device.

Data Usage If you notice a sudden increase in data usage on your phone, it could be a sign that your phone is being tracked. Tracking apps use your phone’s data connection to send data to the person tracking you.

Unusual Background Noise If you hear unusual background noise while making a phone call, it could be a sign that your phone is being tracked. Tracking apps use the microphone in your phone to record your conversations, and this can cause background noise.

Slow Performance If your phone’s performance has become slow and sluggish, it could be a sign that your phone is being tracked. Tracking apps use a lot of system resources, which can cause your phone to become slow and unresponsive.

Pop-Ups and Ads If you notice that your phone is displaying pop-ups and ads more frequently than usual, it could be a sign that your phone is being tracked. Tracking apps can display pop-ups and ads on your phone to collect data or generate revenue.

Phone Temperature If your phone feels warmer than usual, it could be a sign that there is a tracking app running in the background. Tracking apps use a lot of processing power, which can cause your phone to become warmer than usual.

Unfamiliar Apps Noticed any unfamiliar apps on your phone. It could be a sign that your phone is being tracked.

So, if you see any unfamiliar apps on your phone, it is a good idea to check them for any tracking features. 8.

Tracking apps can send commands and messages to your phone to control it remotely. So, if you receive any unusual or suspicious messages, it is a good idea to check your phone for any tracking apps.

Luckily, there are warning signs that you can pick up on that will alert you that there may be spyware infecting your device and monitoring your activities. While some signs are tougher to pick up on than others, if you stay aware of how your device usually performs, you can detect if something is going on with your device.

1) Unusually High Data Usage Has your monthly data usage spiked recently. Is your device suddenly using more data than normal, bumping up against your monthly data allotment, yet you haven’t changed your online habits.

Lower-quality spy tools will try to send as much data about your device back to their home base (AKA the bad guys) as they possibly can. This can use large amounts of data.

This makes detection a bit tougher. It all comes down to making sure that you stay aware of your monthly data usage and pay close attention to any sudden spikes in usage that you might see.

This means you can quickly check data usage without the need to search around on your provider’s website or app for data usage information. How to Check Cellular Data Usage on Android To check your cellular data usage on an Android 10 device, do the following.

Tap “Mobile Network” (It’s in the “Network &amp. Internet” section.) On the Mobile Network screen, tap “App Data Usage.” Here, you can view your current cellular app data usage.

(The process should be similar on other versions of iOS and on iPads running iPadOS.): Open the iOS 16 Settings app. Tap the “Cellular” menu option.

On the Usage screen, you can view the data usage for the current month. 2) Cell Phone Shows Signs of Activity in Standby Mode While you should expect your iPhone or Android phone screen to light up when you receive an incoming call, message, or most other types of notifications, your smartphone’s screen shouldn’t be lighting up for no reason while it’s in standby mode.

3) Unexpected Reboots Is your smartphone rebooting for no obvious reason or without you manually rebooting it. Someone may have unauthorized remote access to your smartphone.

This would also indicate they have all sorts of other access to your device and the personal data stored on it. It could also mean the latest app or operating system you recently downloaded has a bug in it.

See if you can duplicate the device reboot by using the app that was open when it happened. On your Android device, you can to scan your device.

4) Odd Sounds During Calls In the days of analog cell phone networks, weird noises in the background and unstable connections were to be expected. However, today’s all-digital cell networks usually provide connections that are stable and mostly noise-free.

5) Unexpected Text Messages Have you either received unexpected messages with weird characters in them or have your friends or other parties reported receiving weird or offensive messages from your phone. This can be a sign that you have spyware or malware installed on your smartphone.

If the victim taps the link, the worm can infect their smartphone. On your Android device, you can install and run security software such as antivirus or anti-malware to scan your device.

Also, be wary of clicking links in these text messages, as such links can also be used to scam you via phishing schemes to steal your personal and/or business information. This is true on both the Android and iOS device platforms.

Or, it could mean that your device is infected with spyware, and the additional load it’s putting on your smartphone is draining the battery quicker than usual. Spyware monitors all of your on-device activities and sends information about these activities back to the bad actors that infected your device.

Taking screenshots, copying and pasting text, recording your conversations, and possibly taking photos or recording video can eat up battery life at an alarming rate. This is especially obvious when your smartphone is supposedly idle.

Then, monitor the battery usage. Sorry iPhone users, your device’s batteries are not removable.

Users running iOS 14 and up can take advantage of a privacy feature that alerts you when an app on your device is using its camera or microphone.

On the iPhone, do the following: Open the Settings app. Tap “Privacy” (“Privacy &amp.

Tap either “Microphone” or “Camera” in the privacy menu. On the next page, you can view which apps have access to the selected feature.

On an Android Device, do the following: These instructions are for generic Android 10. The steps will be similar for customized versions of Android 10 or for other versions of Android.

Go to the Settings app. Tap “Privacy.” Tap “Permission Manager.” Tap “Camera” or “Microphone.” Here, you can view which apps have access to the selected feature.

7) Increasing Battery Temperature in Idle Mode While increased battery temperature can be a sign of multiple technical issues, it can also indicate that unauthorized activities, like spyware activities, are occurring in the background. If you haven’t used your smartphone recently, and it’s just been sitting idle on your desk, it shouldn’t be warm or hot to the touch.

8) Increased Device Shut Down Time Your smartphone, much like a Mac or Windows PC, attempts to shut down all active processes before turning itself off or when it is rebooted. And, much like your computer, occasionally those processes can hang up and either prevent or greatly slow the shutdown process.

You may notice that your smartphone takes longer than usual to shut down right after you’ve finished an active period with your mobile phone. This could mean the spyware is working in the background, saving its ill-gotten information and sending it back to home base.

Again, this can be caused by a harmless app misbehaving, but if it just started happening recently, or is happening more often than not, your device might be infected with spyware. (Did anyone else hear Jeff Foxworthy say that last sentence in their head.

Okay.) 10) Your Cell Phone is Growing Increasingly Slower High-end smartphones made in the last five years or so should run fast and not show many performance issues during day-to-day use. If you notice your smartphone is lagging, performing much worse than usual, or is suddenly running out of resources like memory or storage space, it might be infected with spyware.

But, if you pay attention to how your smartphone usually performs, you can usually tell if something is going on.

Unfortunately, hackers may easily get access to your phone. For them, it may be as easy as requiring you to click a link or install an app.

Sometimes, you may not even be aware that it is there. So, how can you find malware on an iPhone or an Android device.

For iPhone: Jailbreak: Apple does not allow the installation of spying or monitoring technologies. Because of this, if someone wants to put surveillance software on your phone, they must jailbreak it first.

While jailbreaking an iPhone may improve access to iOS’s fundamental features, it exposes your device to several security dangers. After jailbreaking the iPhone, installing surveillance software becomes pretty simple.

Your data and user accounts will be vulnerable to hackers. While attempting to jailbreak your iPhone, it may become unusable.

Because of this, if you discover the Cydia software on your iPhone and you didn’t jailbreak your device, it implies someone else did it secretly and maliciously. Accept invitations from find my iPhone without knowing: By default, you cannot tell the device is being seen with Find My iPhone.

Using free/open/public WiFi spots: A public WiFi Internet connection implies that hackers can read your data since it does not need authentication. Additionally, the administrator of the WiFi network may be able to observe the websites you visit and may even sell your information.

But like jailbreaking, rooting Android comes with several security dangers. You would send updates to you over the air or OTA.

After rooting, rogue software may install certain more harmful applications without your awareness. Viruses and Trojans may attack your device.

In reality, they are still active and vulnerable to misuse.

There are several indicators that can point towards the presence of spy software on your iPhone. Some of the most common ones include the following: 1 Noise During a Call Hearing background noise when making or receiving a call can be as a result of a poor connection.

This is because some spy software can record phone calls which can cause the noises you hear during a call. These noises can range anywhere from beeping, static, clicking and even actual voices.

If you notice that you all of a sudden have to charge you battery more often than you use to, it is very likely that someone is tracking your iPhone. Although this is an indicator, it is worth noting that your battery life will diminish as your device gets older.

3 Increase in iPhone Data Usage If you have noticed a sudden spike in the data usage on your iPhone, this is also an indicator of the presence of spy software on your device. There are certain types of Spy software that require an internet connection to send the collected data to whoever is tracking your device.

To assess the amount of data being used, use an app like Data Usage for iPhone to track your data usage. 4 iPhone Shuts Down Randomly Does your iPhone sometimes shutdown even when it is fully charged.

Low-quality spy software can cause your device to malfunction, thereby causing it to shut down at inopportune moments. 5 Too Many Strange Messages in Your Inbox If your inbox is filled with too many odd messages that contain some type of code, it is an indication that there’s a spyware tool on your smartphone.

6 Overheating of the Device How to tell if your cell phone is being tracked. Check your device’s temperature.

If you have experienced a sudden increase in battery temperatures in idle mode, beware of spying software that’s sending data to another device. 7 Strange Browser History One of the quickest way to check if your cell phone has been tracked or not is to check your phone’s browser history.

8 Look for Suspicious Apps An easier way to check if you’re being tracked is to browse your device’s application list. If there’s any suspicious app installed on your device, there’s a good chance that it’s being used to monitor your activities.

For instance, the screen may start to become unresponsive or the settings may start to change automatically. This type of behavior indicates that your device is being tracked remotely.

Use a root file explorer and look into different folders on your device. If you find any files named as “stealth”, “spy”, or “mobile spy”, understand that you are being monitored by someone.

— –> If you notice that your iPhone’s battery is draining unusually fast, it could be a sign that your device is being tracked.

In some cases, the tracking software may even prevent your device from entering sleep mode, causing the battery to deplete quickly.

If you have granted location access to your friends or family, they can see where you are through the app. To see who can track your location, open up the ‌Find My‌ app and tap on the “People” tab.

A person who is able to see your location will be denoted with “Can see your location.” If you tap on any person’s name in the list, you can get to settings that will let you stop sharing on an individual basis. Just tap on “Stop Sharing My Location” to block that person from seeing where you are.

You can also get to these settings by opening up the Settings app, going to the Privacy section, selecting Location Services, and then choosing “Share My Location.” This will list family and friends who are able to see your location. Tap on any name in the list to get to an option where you can toggle off location sharing.

Data Saver. To turn this on, select Settings, tap Network &amp.

When you put your phone down and stop using it, it should remain inactive. However, if it lights up and shows signs of activity, that’s a sign that.

Many spyware apps require a surprising amount of power. If your phone struggles to hold a charge, it may be a sign that your phone is running background tracking from a known app or perhaps stalkerware.

Finding trackers on your phone can sometimes be tough—especially if you have a lot of apps on your phone. We recommend periodically reviewing all the apps on your device under phone Settings.

That could’ve been your phone notifying you that someone was spying on you. Android 12 devices have privacy identifiers that notify you when an app is collecting your camera or audio data.

Here’s what each indicator means: Is your phone suddenly slowing way down.

If your phone is being tracked or monitored, the responsible apps can eat up your available RAM and slow down the phone significantly or even freeze or crash it. Certain apps may need access to some of your phone’s features.

For example, it makes sense for a social media app to ask for camera access.

If an app sends you strange permission requests, it may be trying to spy on you. For instance, an app built for setting reminders doesn’t need camera access.

If this is happening to your phone and you’ve ruled out other causes, like damage or an out-of-date operating system, it could be a sign that your phone is infected with spyware. Are you suddenly aware of some added noises while calling someone—even when you are in a quiet space.

The good news is that you can detect a tracker on your phone by checking if. Related to excessive RAM usage, spyware can cause your battery to overheat.

This one can be either a phishing scam or possible stalkerware. Beware if you receive strange texts with links or coded messages from unknown numbers or at unexpected times (e.g., a surprise text message from the IRS—hint: they’ll never text you.

If you believe your phone is being monitored, take steps to identify and remove the spyware app. Tip.

If you notice anything strange or suspicious on websites you visit, like an unusual amount of pop-up ads, you’ve probably been hacked. Another telltale sign to look out for is websites you haven’t accessed showing up in your browser.

You could also be redirected to unsafe websites when your phone has been compromised. To avoid falling victim to spyware in this way, don’t click on suspicious or unknown links you receive via email or social media.

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It makes sense that manufacturers, brands, and companies wish to track your phone and collect your data as well as your behaviors. However, someone may abuse the information.

A few signs can be helpful and let’s see what they are. Sign 1: Unknown Apps Without malicious software, others cannot track your phone.

If you see an unknown app on your device, chances are that your phone is tracked by someone else. On Android: Open the Settings app, tap ,App Management or Apps, and then press See All Apps or App Settings to get the entire list of installed apps on your phone.

Now, you can see the app list and the storage that each app uses. Sign 2: Battery Drain One of the significant signs that tell someone is tracking your phone is a sudden battery drain.

It works in the background, runs your GPS, and does other things. Fortunately, it is not difficult to learn battery usage on iPhone and Android devices.

Now, you can see the battery usage of your device and each app on your phone. On iPhone: Run the Settings app and tap Battery.

Sign 3: Abnormal Internet Traffic Since spy software needs to send your information out, so you may notice excessive data usage on your phone if your phone is tracked. Therefore, you should check your data usage regularly.

Press Mobile data usage, and check the data usage for the current month. On iPhone: Start the Settings app, tap Cellular, Mobile Data, or Cellular Data depending on the version of your iOS, scroll down, and tap Usage to learn data usage on your iPhone.

Some malicious software may load up phishing sites or nasty portals remotely. On Android: Open Chrome or another browser on your Android, tap the Options icon at the top right corner and choose History.

On iPhone: Head to your Settings app, tap Safari, scroll down and press Advanced, and choose Website Data. Then you should see all browser history.

If hardware issues have been dispatched, it means that someone is tracking your phone.