Malware spyware

Aug 31, 2019
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I own a Note 10 + and was wondering, what's the best way to check for malware or spyware? Someone I know texted me a link for a Netflix series preview and now I'm paranoid for personal reasons it may have contained some sort of spyware. This text was sent awhile ago and I cant remember if I actually clicked on it. I installed Malwarebytes and ran a scan but nothing came up.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
 
Malwarebytes is one of the most trustworthy, so if that's negative, I wouldn't worry too much. Avoid AVG or Avast, since they were caught selling user data.

My usual malware spiel:

For the most part, it's still quite difficult to get an actual virus on your phone, because malware requires you to manually accept the installation (which is why they try to fool you into thinking you're installing something legitimate). Use common sense:


1. Avoid shady websites that deal with things like porn, gambling, and "free" (aka pirated) apps/music/movies.


2. Never ever tap on a link that appears in a popup while browsing, especially if they're warning you that your phone is infected -- they're just trying to scare you into installing some bogus "antivirus" app that is probably malicious itself.


3. Only install apps from well-established app sources like Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore. Read a bunch of app reviews before installing an app to look for any complaints about adware or suspected malware.


4. Turn on Google Play Protect features in Settings>Google>Security (or in the Play Store settings). This allows Google to periodically scan your phone's apps to look for malware.


5. Turn off "Unknown Sources" in Settings>Security (or in Special App Access on newer phones). This prevents any app that wasn't obtained from Google Play Store from being installed (which could include malicious apps that are inadvertently downloaded).
 
Thanks for the response! What made me paranoid was the link looked kinda strange for a youtube link. It started with "https://youtu.be/..."

Maybe it was a mistake, but I'm just trying to be careful I didnt install anything that monitors my activity like phone calls, texts, location etc...
 
That's a normal link -- they use URL shorteners in the Share Link option. Try it yourself -- go to the YouTube website on your browser, pick any video, and click Share. You'll see the link starting with "https://youtu.be/"
 
That's a normal link -- they use URL shorteners in the Share Link option. Try it yourself -- go to the YouTube website on your browser, pick any video, and click Share. You'll see the link starting with "https://youtu.be/"
Thanks man! Mind now at ease