Question SamsungAO3 Hacked

[srms]

I've had 5 of these phones and all have been hacked and/or remoted into within a few days of purchasing them brand new. People are intercepting emails, it's been made clear to me that they are hearing what's being said even when the phones are turned off, they will factory reset them and then it states it needs the old password to get in, which is not normal after a factory reset, and the old password won't work. It's never ending, and I have made sure not to download any apps, use email, text anyone, or go on suspicious websites, etc, and within a day or two, they are always showing signs of being hacked. Does anyone know how this is happening or how to prevent it, thanks.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It's actually pretty hard to get hacked if you follow some basic security guidelines. Read the following:

“I’ve been hacked” - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com
[GUIDE] How To Avoid Malware - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

And it's very normal for phones to ask for the original password that they were set up with if you factory reset them. That's called Factory Reset Protection, and is a security feature to discourage thieves from stealing a phone and simply doing a factory reset to make it their own.

 

[srms]

Welcome to Android Central! It's actually pretty hard to get hacked if you follow some basic security guidelines. Read the following:

“I’ve been hacked” - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com
[GUIDE] How To Avoid Malware - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

And it's very normal for phones to ask for the original password that they were set up with if you factory reset them. That's called Factory Reset Protection, and is a security feature to discourage thieves from stealing a phone and simply doing a factory reset to make it their own.

I'm literally only using the phones for calls to my sister and paying bills etc, at this point, and they start showing signs of being hacked.

 

[B. Diddy]

What signs are those? How do you know people are intercepting your emails?

Have you already tried changing the passwords of all of your sensitive accounts, making sure they're not easy to guess, and enabling 2-factor authentication wherever possible?

 

[Laura Knotek]

Does anyone else have physical access to your phone or computer? Are you using strong passwords? My suggestion is to use a password manager app to generate strong passwords for your accounts so you don't need to remember all of them. You'll only need to remember the master password for the password manager app. I use Enpass for this. It works on my Android phone and tablet, plus my Windows PC.

 

[mustang7757]

If your factory resetting in recovery instead of settings it will ask for old password as it's not the proper way to factory reset its still link to your account until you factory reset in settings.