• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Phone is sending SMS by itself

N

n3xtgen

Lurker
My phone is sending SMS messages by itself to 122 (Canada Ringaling TV). I changed my phone number thinking somehow it was subscribed to it but the same thing happens! This leads me to believe that there is some kind of application on my phone that is doing this by itself. How can I find it and stop it/remove?

Thanks
 
You could look which of your downloaded app has SMS permission.

An app for to list those apps is 'Pocket Permissions'.
The dev of this app is mod in this forum :)

Harry
 
Thanks. Looks like there is a hidden app on my phone that is doing this. I tried a factory restore but it did nothing. How can I reformat my phone and install the Android OS from scratch?
 
n3xtgen said:
Thanks. Looks like there is a hidden app on my phone that is doing this. I tried a factory restore but it did nothing. How can I reformat my phone and install the Android OS from scratch?
Click to expand...

I don't think apps can be hidden on android, you should be able to see it listed in your installed applications list. If its not there it probably came installed on the phone out of the factory. If you can find out the name of the application, then root your phone and go into system/apps/ folder and delete the application file from there.
 
Well, i took out my SIM card and inserted it into another phone and the SMS stopped sending. Once I put the sim card back in my phone it stated to send again. This means that there is something on my phone. I want to completely remove everything (Fresh install) of Android. Where could I find instructions on how to ROOT my phone and a ROM or Android I can install? My phone is a Motorola MB220

Thanks
 
OP, it sounds like you aren't rooted. If you're not, a simple factory reset will be much easier and just as effective. Rooting can be risky, and ROMing even more so. Also, without root access, I can't imagine how an app could possibly hide on your phone to begin with.
 
An other Try :)

You might hunt the culprit app on your own with the aid of the phone logging app 'aLogcat' (free in Market).
But be warned, you'll need some experience with logs or the will to learn it ;)

Start 'aLogcat' and then clear its log.
Wait until such a SMS was sent. I hope that you'll get a notification.

Return to aLogcat (via long press on the HOME button).
Now you should see the culprit app in the log's rows.

Good luck :)

Harry
 
Hello everyone.
I have tried aLogcat, permission dog and lookout but none of them seem to detect anything :(. I have gone through the logs but dont see anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps a reformat may work?

Edit: When an SMS is sent the following shows up in the log:

I(411)org.apache.harmony.nio.internal.SocketChannelImpl@4388aea0: wrote out 29 bytes of data with 0 bytes remaining. (TLSStateManager)
 
Yes I have inserted a different SIM and the same thing happens :(. Looks like there is something on the phone by default or factory that is doing this.
 
Sorry to bump an old thread... but did anyone think it was the phones natural communication to his provider? I know some phones communicate with txts and there supposed to be hidden and can sometimes be seen and noticed with a second SMS application.. It sure sounds like it when it only happened when he's SIM was in.
 
My phone is sending sms automatically to a no.. Can somebody help.. See the pic
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20170327-192117.png
    Screenshot_20170327-192117.png
    78.9 KB · Views: 510
So what apps have you got installed that have the permission to send SMS? That's the first thing I'd check. Addons Detector can scan and provide a summary of app permissions.

Anything you installed from a random download site is the first thing I'd look at.
 
Hadron said:
So what apps have you got installed that have the permission to send SMS? That's the first thing I'd check. Addons Detector can scan and provide a summary of app permissions.

Anything you installed from a random download site is the first thing I'd look at.
Click to expand...
I will download the addons detector... And get back to you sir.
 
Also ... where did you get the phone?

An excellent anti-theft app lets the owner access the phone from a desktop computer and access the message history and/or send a message.

... Thom
 
Run a Scan then click on Permission Explorer. Then click the search icon and type "SMS" to see all SMS-related permissions and the apps that have them. Write SMS and Send SMS are the obvious ones to look for: message apps will obviously have these, message backup apps will have write SMS, security apps may have them, and there may be some others (e.g. the old HTC Calendar app has Send SMS). But if you find something inexplicable with such permissions it might be worth trying to find out whether there is a legitimate reason (and whether it's connected to the messages you are seeing).
 
Hadron said:
Run a Scan then click on Permission Explorer. Then click the search icon and type "SMS" to see all SMS-related permissions and the apps that have them. Write SMS and Send SMS are the obvious ones to look for: message apps will obviously have these, message backup apps will have write SMS, security apps may have them, and there may be some others (e.g. the old HTC Calendar app has Send SMS). But if you find something inexplicable with such permissions it might be worth trying to find out whether there is a legitimate reason (and whether it's connected to the messages you are seeing).
Click to expand...
I got this (see the pic)... On clicking these i could see the various apps... But how to detect which app is causing that automatic sms problem
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20170327-201517.png
    Screenshot_20170327-201517.png
    252.3 KB · Views: 254
You can click on those to find what the 12 applications that can send SMS and the 3 that can write SMS are. That won't tell you which is responsible for the messages you are seeing, but will give you a list of apps that might be.
 
Hadron said:
You can click on those to find what the 12 applications that can send SMS and the 3 that can write SMS are. That won't tell you which is responsible for the messages you are seeing, but will give you a list of apps that might be.
Click to expand...
Okay sir. And thank you for your help. And is there any other reason u can think of that might me causing this
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom