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Help I need Validation about hacking

so is he lying about his phone being hacked

  • yes

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • no

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Total voters
    4
amber moore

amber moore

Lurker
ok so, I am 46 years old, I have my BA in special education, point is I don't feel like I'm stupid but, my boyfriend has dating apps and chats installed and uninstalled, search history shows dating sights etc. He says his phone is hacked. His phone is not rooted, if that means anything. He did have about 150 dating apps installed before we met. But they keep getting installed and uninstalled. The "hacker" has never touched his bank account or cashapp or anything important....... His email is full of adult spam. I mean i feel like i know the answer, but i need validation from someone who knows for a fact. could his phone be hacked?
thank you
amber
 
It's possible, but very unlikely, that his phone has been hacked - if it were, then his bank account would very likely have some funds mysteriously disappearing. If he claims it has been hacked, ask him to do a Factory Data reset while you watch. If he refuses, then you can be pretty sure he's lying about it being hacked. It's way to suspicious, and I'd be inclined to end the relationship.
 
Davdi said:
It's possible, but very unlikely, that his phone has been hacked - if it were, then his bank account would very likely have some funds mysteriously disappearing. If he claims it has been hacked, ask him to do a Factory Data reset while you watch. If he refuses, then you can be pretty sure he's lying about it being hacked. It's way to suspicious, and I'd be inclined to end the relationship.
Click to expand...
that's what I thought.....yea all they're doing is installing and uninstalling apps.....I just , even though it doesn't matter, want something more concrete that he cant deny,,, i mean i even reinstalled text now handed him his phone, called it and it rang! he still denies it and a look at his blocked numbers are from guess what voip text now...........he said he would do a factory reset.....so we shall see....thank you
 
Hacking is not as easy as one would think...... especially with Android. To hack most phones you will need a computer hooked up to the phone and have certain programs setup and running on a computer to root the phone.

Now malware or Spyware is much easier to contract. But it is designed to be very inconspicuous so that it can steal data from the phone. They are not designed to alert you.

Either way a factory reset should fix a hacked phone or a phone infected with malware.
 
Okay, probably not hacked, but I voted that he's not lying either.

Here's what *might* be going on. First his phone could be cracked ... as in someone guessed (or was given) is Google account credentials. It would be very easy to play games like this if it were the case. Have him log into his account from a desktop and go to connected devices and see if there's anything there he doesn't recognize. If so, remove them and then change the password to the account. Enabling 2-factor authentication wouldn't be a bad idea either, at least for a little while to see if that fixes the issue.

Another thought is if, as you say, he once had a lot of dating apps installed, and he had an auto backup and restore setup either through Android or a 3rd party app, it could be going out and grabbing old apps, or perhaps trying to update them. A factory reset will only fix that problem IF he doesn't select account restore when he logs back into the phone.
 
Well his phone could indeed be 'hacked' but there's a good chance it's not the actual problem. It's unfortunately a too common occurrence, especially for Android, for any and all problems to be attributed to '...the phone has been hacked...' when there's a completely different issue involved.

In any case though, getting an accurate diagnosis is very unlikely to happen in an online help forum. Your, or rather his, best option is to take this phone into a trusted, local service center to have a trained person look things over. Someone in actual physical possession of the phone will be better able to make an actual summary than vague descriptions and random replies that you get here.
There are way too many variables involved -- the phone could be compromised in some way, or it could be just a matter of one or several of his online services that are in question, or a combination of both, and there are multiple levels of severity involved on top of that. Could be the Android operating system on his phone has been exploited in some way (...and to answer your question directly, both non-rooted and rooted phones can be compromised so that's not as relevant), could be an installed app that's the problem, could be one of his online services uses on his phone is the issue and not the phone itself. Could be this or that but finding and then fixing the actual source requires an involved, hands-on approach.
 
svim said:
Well his phone could indeed be 'hacked' but there's a good chance it's not the actual problem. It's unfortunately a too common occurrence, especially for Android, for any and all problems to be attributed to '...the phone has been hacked...' when there's a completely different issue involved.

In any case though, getting an accurate diagnosis is very unlikely to happen in an online help forum. Your, or rather his, best option is to take this phone into a trusted, local service center to have a trained person look things over. Someone in actual physical possession of the phone will be better able to make an actual summary than vague descriptions and random replies that you get here.
There are way too many variables involved -- the phone could be compromised in some way, or it could be just a matter of one or several of his online services that are in question, or a combination of both, and there are multiple levels of severity involved on top of that. Could be the Android operating system on his phone has been exploited in some way (...and to answer your question directly, both non-rooted and rooted phones can be compromised so that's not as relevant), could be an installed app that's the problem, could be one of his online services uses on his phone is the issue and not the phone itself. Could be this or that but finding and then fixing the actual source requires an involved, hands-on approach.
Click to expand...
Thank You!
 
Just be aware that this could be as involved as having to the phone re-flashed and then he needs to restore it from scratch again as a worst case scenario, or it might be as basic as just having to reset the password to his online Google account to fix the problem. But in any case, there's obviously a problem and it's better to get it taken care of promptly than just let it fester into a bigger one. Just be selective in choosing a good service shop to look into what's actually going on instead of the more common places that just rely upon 'quick fixes' (i.e. an untrained kid working the counter at your local carrier store probably isn't the best option).
 
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