Spoof Calls and Hacking

Spoof calls and hacking raise issues of privacy and security. Spoofing is when someone pretends to be someone else by using their phone number. They can trick people into answering unwanted calls. Hacking is when someone gets access to a phone without permission. This could lead to the device making calls by itself, among other things.

These activities could lead to misuse of personal info. To prevent them, users must protect their phone numbers and make sure their devices are secure. Keep software up-to-date, run regular antivirus scans, and don’t download from untrusted sources.

It’s important to understand the risks of spoof calls and hacking. Secure practices and precautions can minimize issues caused by spoofing or hacking.
Explanation of how someone can use your phone number to make calls and hide their identity

Your phone might be hacked, causing someone to use your number for calls and hide their identity. It could be through spoof calls or hacking, where someone gains access to your phone without permission. Outdated software or malware could also lead to autonomous calls. Touchscreens that are not working properly can register accidental touches, leading to unintended dialing.

Keep your software updated and run antivirus scans regularly to prevent security breaches. Also, be aware of butt dialing situations – accidental touches or pressure on certain buttons could result in calls. Take preventive measures such as locking your phone or using case covers with button protection.

At least, your phone is taking the initiative and making calls for you!

Malware Found In Both iOS and Android Apps with Similar Tactics

Dmitry Kalinin and Sergey Puzan today published their work for Kaspersky about screenshot-reading OCR malware discovered in both Android and iPhone apps.

On the iPhone side, the duo identified a number of App Store apps that would use OCR to scan a user’s photo library in search of recovery phrases for crypto wallets. “This is the first known case of an app infected with OCR spyware being found in Apple’s official app marketplace.”

They explain how this works:

    The Android malware module would decrypt and launch an OCR plug-in built with Google’s ML Kit library, and use that to recognize text it found in images inside the gallery. Images that matched keywords received from the C2 were sent to the server. The iOS-specific malicious module had a similar design and also relied on Google’s ML Kit library for OCR.

Various apps are mentioned throughout their full brief, but they seem to primarily target users in Asia and Europe.

Some of the apps appeared to be running the malicious code without their developers’ knowledge, while others were suspected bad actors.

    We detected a series of apps embedded with a malicious framework in the App Store. We cannot confirm with certainty whether the infection was a result of a supply chain attack or deliberate action by the developers. Some of the apps, such as food delivery services, appeared to be legitimate, whereas others apparently had been built to lure victims. For example, we saw several similar AI-featured “messaging apps” by the same developer

Lately everyday, yes everyday I've been receiving calls which when picked up is just silent and then immediately hang up. It's getting pretty annoying.

Lately everyday, yes everyday I've been receiving calls which when picked up is just silent and then immediately hang up. It's getting pretty annoying.

Me too.
Any did ur phone show the name of these call?

The ones recently I received are all valid random numbers owned by real people with personal Whatsapp.

Many when I called them back they say they weren't making calls at that time, did not know me or have any idea that their phone were making calls while were idle when I received calls from their number.

It's remotely initiated to call out and then when the receiver picks up the call it immediately cuts off.