Is someone tapping your phone calls right now?
It's more common than you'd think.
In this video, we'll tell you about the signs your phone is tapped,
how phones get tapped, and how you can stop those snoopers for good.
Unless they're the FBI.
I don't think we can help you if the feds are listening to your calls.
Let's start with a sign you're probably familiar with.
Do you hear little beeps and boops on your phone calls?
Do you hear little clicks and clacks?
Do you hear random white noise?
Somebody could be tapping your phone.
Next, is your microphone in use constantly,
even when you're not using an app that requires it?
That could be a sign you're being listened to.
On an iPhone, look for a little orange dot in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
You can even swipe into Control Center.
I'll swipe down from the top of the screen and look at the microphone icon there.
If we tap here, we can see System just recently used the microphone.
And that's because we're doing a screen recording right now for this video.
On an Android, a green dot will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
if your microphone is in use.
For more info, you can swipe down from the very top of the screen
and you can tap on the green microphone.
And it says it's being used by Samsung Capture
because we're doing a screen recording on this phone too.
The next sign your phone is being tapped is increased data usage.
It's possible a tapping or a spyware app is downloading your data
and sending it somewhere else.
On iPhone, we'll open the Settings app, then tap Cellular,
and then scroll down and make sure that there isn't some crazy spyware app in here
sending tons of data somewhere else.
Fortunately, your iPhone lists the apps in order by how much data they've used
in your most recent period.
If you're not sure, maybe this is a new problem on your iPhone,
you can scroll all the way down and tap Reset Statistics, Reset,
and now 0 bytes so we can see what's going to start using data.
This isn't a foolproof method though, because if you're connected to Wi-Fi all the time,
it's not going to show up here in Cellular.
I suppose that is a way you could check, you could turn off Wi-Fi temporarily.
You can check this on Android too.
Swipe down from the top of the screen and then tap the Settings gear
in the upper right-hand corner to open the Settings app.
Then tap on Connections, scroll down and tap on Data Usage,
and scroll down to Mobile Data Usage and tap on that.
The Android Settings app sorts this by month, so it's early May right now.
I might want to see how much data I've used in a previous month.
I think I've been tracked for a while.
It's going to give me some more information and just like the iPhone,
it's sorted by order of how much data each app has used.
The next sign your phone is being tapped is increased battery usage.
Whatever software the person is using to tap your phone will drain its battery faster.
On iPhone, I'll tap back to the main page of Settings,
scroll down, and tap Battery, and then just look through your list of apps.
Are there any strange apps using a ton of battery life?
Right now, for me, it's all Settings apps because we're doing screen recording.
Indeed.
This is just my last 24 hours.
I can scroll up and choose Last 10 Days and see if anything suspicious stands out here.
On Android, you can find the same information in the Settings app.
I'm in the Mobile Data Usage section now.
I'll tap back in the upper left-hand corner of the screen,
then back again, and then back again to get to the main page of the Settings app.
Next, I'm going to scroll down to Battery and Device Care and tap on that,
and then I'm going to tap on Battery.
Now, just like the iPhone, I can scroll down and see a list of which apps have
used the most battery on my phone.
And to see more information, just tap View Details,
and then tap Last 7 Days at the top of the screen,
and look for anything weird that stands out here.
Those pesky spyware apps can also heat up your phone.
They're not really known for being well-coded,
so if your phone is getting really hot and you're not sure why,
that could be a sign it's being tapped.
Just bear in mind that a lot of these signs we talk about
are not necessarily indications that your phone is being tapped.
For instance, if you're playing a 3D game,
it is absolutely normal for your phone to get hot,
or other software crashes that are just part of having a phone
can also cause that problem.
A lot of videos on phone tapping talk about a secret code
that lets you know whether or not your phone is actively being tapped.
It's a bit hyperbolic, but they have a point.
And it has to do with call forwarding.
Call forwarding is a perfectly legitimate feature
offered by pretty much every cell phone company.
It allows you to forward calls from your phone number to another phone number.
So it's very useful if you're on vacation,
and you want to forward calls from your cell phone
to your vacation home, for instance.
But if your calls are being forwarded without your knowledge,
it's a sign someone is tapping your phone or intercepting your phone calls.
And here's the kicker.
Call forwarding settings don't always appear in your phone's settings app.
On my iPhone, for instance, I'm a Verizon subscriber.
I do have call forwarding.
If I tap back to settings in the upper left-hand corner of the screen,
and then scroll down to phone,
there is no call forwarding setting in here on my iPhone.
For some carriers, it appears here.
Other carriers, it just doesn't.
If you don't see call forwarding in the settings app on your iPhone,
don't worry.
There's a code you can type in to the phone app
that'll turn off call forwarding entirely.
We'll talk about that in just a minute.
Unlike the iPhone, call forwarding settings show up in the phone app on Android,
not in the settings app.
So I'll scroll down here to supplementary services and tap on that.
Takes a second to load.
Then I'll tap on call forwarding.
And here I have these options forward, forward when busy,
forward when unanswered, forward when unreachable,
which is actually a cool one because maybe you have a camp up in the woods
with no cell phone service,
and you want to forward calls from your phone to your camp
only when your phone doesn't have any service.
Forward when unreachable is perfect.
If you don't see call forwarding options in the settings app or the phone app on your phone,
there's a special code you can dial in to check all of your call forwarding settings.
On iPhone, I'll close out of the settings app,
open the phone app,
and I'm going to dial star pound two one pound and then hit dial.
Kind of a low tech looking menu here, and it takes a second to load.
In the meantime, when are I loaded on my Android?
What's that code again, David?
Star pound two one pound.
Tap call.
MMI code started.
And I see call forwarding unconditionally.
Voice, data, fax, SMS sync, async packet pad, all not forwarded.
That means that call forwarding is not enabled through my carrier.
On my phone, it says setting interrogation failed a bunch of times.
Maybe I don't have call forwarding with this plan.
You actually might.
And this is a great time to actually contact Verizon
if you suspect that your phone calls are being forwarded somewhere else.
Or on most carriers, you can just dial star 73
to totally turn off call forwarding for your phone number.
So let's tap dismiss and then I'll dial star 73.
Hit the dial button.
You might hear some beeps, some static noise.
That's normal.
I'll try it over here too.
73, hit that dial button.
Didn't sound like that worked for me.
If the code doesn't work, dial 611 for customer assistance.
We did a whole video about phone codes that unlock secret settings on your phone.
Link to that in the card above and in the section below the subscribe button.
The next sign your phone is being tapped
is that you're receiving strange texts in the messages app.
For the record, I get a lot of strange texts and my phone isn't tapped.
Here's what Norton has to say.
The remote control feature of spy software works by sending
secret coded text messages to your phone.
And in some cases, these can be seen if the software is not working correctly.
Look out for some weird text message, not like phishing scams.
Okay, so it's not what I think.
I think it's like a bunch of random letters and numbers.
Like it's like code.
Now that you know the signs your phone is being tapped,
let's talk about some of the steps you should take on both iPhone and Android.
Let's start with iPhone.
The first thing to do is check for a spyware app.
On my phone, I'll close out of the phone app and open settings.
Tap back to the main page of settings, scroll up and tap general, then tap iPhone storage.
While that's loading, tap that join button below the video to learn about how you can get a free
PDF of this video and other ones that lets you follow along at your own pace.
So if we're going too fast for you, there is a good solution for that.
It helps you out and it helps us out too.
Once your apps load in iPhone storage, look through this list for anything suspicious.
Look for a spyware app if you actually find one,
which I don't think is going to be super likely for most people.
But if you do, you can tap on it and then tap delete app.
Next up, configuration profiles.
A configuration profile is one file that sets up your iPhone in a very specific way.
They're used by legitimate schools and businesses all over the world, but they can be abused.
Let's tap back up our left hand corner of the screen and back to our general settings.
Scroll down to VPN and device management.
Tap on that and underneath configuration profile, look for anything suspicious.
It's Apple, we're beta testers.
We get these profiles.
What if you see one you don't recognize?
Well, you could just tap on that profile, then tap remove profile.
Next, it's a good idea to keep your iPhone up to date.
Security issues with iOS.
There have been some big ones over the past several months.
Keep your iPhone up to date.
Let's tap back upper left hand corner of the screen back to our general settings.
Scroll up and tap software update.
And if an update is available, tap download and install or install now.
But we're not quite done with this section of settings.
Let's tap on automatic updates and look at security responses and system files.
This allows your iPhone to automatically install rapid security updates.
If there is some sort of security vulnerability, just let Apple automatically install it.
Don't leave your phone vulnerable.
But also don't trust that an iOS update is going to magically solve the problem.
If you have a spy tracker app installed on your phone, because it won't.
Before we dive into Android, there's another iPhone setting we do want to talk about.
Let's tap back to the main page of settings.
Then tap screen time and then tap communication limits.
If this asks you to set up screen time, don't worry about it.
It's not on on your phone.
Screen time is used by parents to control the activities of their children,
but it can also be abused because if you have a controlling spouse, for instance,
and they get a hold of your phone, they can effectively make you a child
and block you from, in this case, communicating with other people who you might care about.
So although it's not a specific way people are tapping your phone,
it is a way they can be controlling your behavior.
Like on iPhone, the first thing to do on your Android is look for a spyware app.
So I'm going to go into settings by swiping down from the top of the screen
and then tapping the settings gear.
Let's scroll down and tap on apps, and here we have our list of Android apps.
In addition to software like a spyware app,
look for an MDM app or mobile device management app like Google Apps Device Policy.
Mobile device management apps are used by schools and businesses
to remotely configure and administer a phone,
and they can be legitimate, but they also can be abused.
Next, check for accounts that you didn't install on your Android.
I'll tap back upper left hand corner of the screen,
then scroll up and tap accounts and backup, then tap manage accounts.
Here we have a good example because neither one of us know what this Facebook account is.
I'll tap remove account.
There you go.
Then tap remove account.
Next, check for a software update on your phone.
These will reduce the risk that someone takes advantage of a software vulnerability
to tap your calls.
Let's tap back upper left hand corner of the screen, back to the main page of settings,
scroll down and tap on software update,
and then tap download and install.
If an update is available, install it.
On my phone, it says your software is up to date, so take that you thieves.
Next, we're going to check install unknown apps,
which is one of the strangest features on an Android because it really exposes your phone
to some strange security vulnerabilities.
It's possible that with install unknown apps,
one app currently installed on your Android then installed some spyware.
Let's tap back to the main page of settings in the upper left hand corner of the screen,
then tap apps, tap the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the screen,
and tap special access.
Scroll down and tap install unknown apps.
We recommend turning off install unknown apps for every single app.
Normally, when we go through these videos,
I like to turn everything on so we can show you how we turn them off.
In this case, I'm afraid to turn on these switches because we don't know what will happen.
It's just a good idea to leave these all off.
Yeah, and in the future, if an app needs to install some other app,
you can come back in here and give it permission.
But I do want to point this out at the very top of this menu.
It says installing apps from this source may put your phone and data at risk.
Why take that risk?
Why have this setting at all?
Next on Android, device admin apps.
These apps could be listening to your phone calls
because they basically get control of everything on your phone.
I'll tap back to the special app access page,
scroll up and tap device admin apps and take a look at these apps.
If one is on, say Outlook device policy was on, I can just tap on that.
And when it's on, it has the ability to monitor my screen unlock attempts,
lock the screen of this phone, and set storage encryption.
It's a lot.
It's a lot of access, but could be used by legitimate schools or businesses.
Maybe David's working for the NSA.
Yeah.
They don't want them taking pictures of the aliens.
Maybe it's a work phone and your business uses Outlook.
You know, perfectly reasonable for this to be turned on.
But if you don't have an Outlook account,
it doesn't need device admin access on your phone.
Next, and David alluded to this earlier in the video,
there is one surefire way to make sure your phone is not being tapped,
at least not by an app.
It's a factory reset.
Resets everything on your phone to factory defaults
like you were just taking it out of the box for the very first time.
On Android, let's tap back to the main page of settings.
Scroll down and tap general management.
Then scroll down to reset and then tap factory data reset.
Scroll down and then tap reset to reset your phone.
On iPhone, the process is very similar.
We'll tap back to the main page of settings, scroll down,
tap general and scroll all the way down to transfer or reset iPhone
and then tap erase all content and settings.
And now that you know your phone is not being tapped,
check out one of these next two videos to make sure your phone is not being tracked.
We'll see you there.
One's for iPhone, one's for Android.
Just if it isn't obvious enough.
But on my phone, it says your software is up to date.
Take that, jerks.
Bye.