How to Tell If Your Smartphone Is Being Monitored
Do you ever wonder if someone is watching you? Who could be spying on you through your smartphone—corporations, intelligence agencies, competitors? Or maybe you accidentally installed spyware and now hackers are tracking you and stealing your data? It never hurts to check just in case! Here are some possible signs that your phone might be under surveillance.
7 Possible Signs of Surveillance
- Unknown apps on your phone. If you find an app on your smartphone that you don’t remember installing, it could be a disguised spyware program. Such apps can get onto your phone through other apps or by pretending to be legitimate software.
- Strange text messages. Sometimes you might receive messages from unknown numbers containing random characters. These could be phishing attempts or coded instructions for spyware already installed on your phone. If you get these messages often, it’s a good idea to consult a specialist.
- Slow performance and overheating. Spyware runs constantly in the background, using up your device’s resources and causing it to overheat. This also drains your battery quickly. While this isn’t always a sign of malware, if your phone starts heating up and lagging for no clear reason, it’s worth checking for malicious software.
- Unusual phone activity. Spyware can trigger fake notifications, sounds, random screen activations, or even unexpected reboots. If this happens regularly and without explanation, it could be a warning sign.
- Excessive data usage. Spyware collects data from your phone and sends it to hackers over the internet. This increases your data usage and could lead to extra charges or speed throttling. If you notice an app using a lot of data without your knowledge, pay close attention to it.
- Inconsistent activity history. Spyware can record your calls or visited websites and save these records on your phone. If you find screenshots, videos, or suspicious files in your gallery—especially if they contain confidential information—it could be evidence of a breach.
- Strange noises during calls. Spyware can eavesdrop on your calls and create interference like beeps, echoes, or static. If you hear these sounds during every call, it might be a sign of wiretapping.
In my opinion, you should only start to worry if you notice at least 3–5 of these signs at the same time.
Codes to Check Call Forwarding and Useful Tips
- *#21#
This code lets you check if call, SMS, or data forwarding is enabled on your phone. The screen will show the status for different types of forwarding and the number to which your data is being sent. This kind of forwarding is often set up by jealous spouses or parents to protect children from spam and criminals. More often, elderly people become victims after lending their phone to a stranger for a call. As a result, outsiders can learn everything about your location, social circle, habits, and daily routine—and in some cases, even gain access to your finances. - *#62#
Dial this to find out where calls, SMS, and data are forwarded if you’re unreachable. Most likely, your voice calls are forwarded to one of your carrier’s numbers (voicemail). - *#06#
This universal code disables all types of forwarding from your phone. It’s handy to use before traveling abroad so you won’t be charged for calls automatically forwarded to voicemail.
This code also shows your IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier)—a unique identifier for your device. Knowing your IMEI can help you find your phone if it’s stolen, as it’s automatically sent to your carrier’s network even if a different SIM card is used. If someone knows your IMEI, they can find out your phone’s model, technical specs, and more.
What Else?
There are special codes that can help you track your location or determine if someone is monitoring you. For this, your phone needs to have the netmonitor utility installed.
Enter one of these codes:
- For iPhone: *3001#12345#*
- For Android: *#*#4636#*#* or *#*#197328640#*#*
- Go to the UMTS Cell Environment tab, then to UMTS RR info, and write down all the Cell ID values. These are the numbers of nearby cell towers. Your phone will connect to the one with the best signal by default.
- Return to the main menu, go to the MM info tab, then to Serving PLMN. Write down the Local Area Code (LAC) values.
- With these two values and a regular website (the fourth tab from the left), you can find the location of the cell tower your phone is connected to on a map.
Be wary of mobile cell towers: trucks or vans with large antennas. They’re usually used at festivals or in areas with no cell coverage. If such a vehicle appears nearby for no reason, the operator might be trying to improve signal quality—or maybe foreign spies or industrial espionage are at work.
How Do Intelligence Agencies Eavesdrop?
National intelligence agencies in almost every country cooperate with mobile carriers, who provide access to any subscriber by court order and supply data for at least the past three months.
If your phone is being tapped by a secret service, you probably won’t even notice. Stories about call interference, fast battery drain, overheating, and sudden reboots are usually just reasons to take your phone in for repair.
People tend not to share much sensitive information over the phone, so it’s often more effective to use special devices (“bugs”) in rooms, which can be detected with a radio frequency detector.
Author: Pavluu
Inspired by: a post by user Sobaka on the Probiv forum