Question Is it time to get an antivirus for my android phone?

[travistee]

I've read different opinions if Android phones need anti virus. Now I have a problem with a hacker that keeps sending me emails
or texts that look like they will cause problems. Sometimes there is no way to delete them and I think I clicked on one of them by
mistake. Which type of antivirus or other way to remove anything he may have planted in my phone?

 

[USAFRet]

For your Android phone, it's advisable to install a reputable antivirus app like Avast, Bitdefender, or Norton. Run a full scan to detect and remove any malware. Additionally, be cautious about clicking on suspicious links or emails, and consider changing passwords.

Thats all well and good, and very generic.
But how will that help if someone is sending him emails?

 

[WrongRookie]

he needs to be attentive
the spam folder usually helps with this

Not all phising mails appear on the spam.

As much as you can say the arguement that people should be smart enough to say its a spam, people can easily fall for it.

On Topic, if you have the latest phone with the latest andrioid version, you generally should be fine as phone companies do add security updates for a certain period.

outdated phones can be hacked in due time due to them being outdated. Regarding your situation, if you have an outdated phone and if the hacker is getting to a dangerous point of stealing your data, backup your data, destroy the phone and get a new one.

If you do have a new uptodate phone, Do a security checkup, enable safe browsing and ignore the hacker mails.

How Android protects you from scams and phishing attacks

Read the latest on how Android protects people from phishing, scams and spam with multiple layers of security.

blog.google

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Anti-virus for mobile is about as legitimate as ram boosters. Not very.

If you don't want to create a new email or or phone number, vigilance and blocking are two options.

Additionally you can switch to somethint like True Caller which replaces your dialer and messenger and manages spam and scams.

For email, you need to switch providers if that much spam is getting through, to something like Gmail. If Gmail is letting it through you need to start marking it as spam. If that's not helping, an email client like Proton Mail

And obviously don't download random apps from websites and on the PlayStore read reviews before installing.

 

[travistee]

The problem is more in Outlook than Gmail.

What about key loggers. Is that as big problem with Android phones and Chromebooks than in Windows?
Windows has some malware removal tools.

I use the chromebook more than my windows PC so if I'm using outlook.com it will be on the chromebook most
of the time.

 

[realpao]

The problem is more in Outlook than Gmail.

What about key loggers. Is that as big problem with Android phones and Chromebooks than in Windows?
Windows has some malware removal tools.

I use the chromebook more than my windows PC so if I'm using outlook.com it will be on the chromebook most
of the time.

If you do not download any random apps, you should be fine.

 

[travistee]

This shows up on my android phone in outlook.com.
I don't see it on my chromebook and I didn't see it on my windows PC.
Any ideas on what it is or how to keep it off my phone.

phishing hosted at ImgBB

Image phishing hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[Corwin65]

Anti-virus for mobile is about as legitimate as ram boosters. Not very.

Ram Boosters are dumb, just download more RAM

 

[punkncat]

As someone above already stated, if this is a newer phone you should be getting regular security updates.
Going on the assumption that you already have backup/duplication of the things you want in the device such as contacts and photos, I would just do a full clean reset of the phone back to factory. Nothing is going to stay after that.

Without knowing more about your email provider IDK if it is possible to contact them (or if they would even care) about these attempts. Perhaps try to log in from a PC and set a spam filter for these emails. Worse comes to worse, create a new email account after you reset the phone.

 

[travistee]

This is the same phishing text I posted before.

The answers I got were assuming it was in an Email. Its in a text.

What can this do to an Android phone since the advice seems to be that Android doesn't need anti virus.

It doesn't have a choice besides the two choices it gives so I leave it.

If someone sends an text with a picture of, lets say a cat, can there be phishing be in that?

phishing text on my android

 

[punkncat]

According to what app you are using, it should have an option to delete text right from the list view. Typically, this would be performed by a long hold on the header for the individual text and the options will pop up for (among other things) delete.

Also, many cell service providers offer filters and the like where you can basically tell the phone that selected numbers are spam and give the option to delete/block/report.

 

[travistee]

I corrected my question above. Its in outlook.com on the android phone not the chromebook or windows PC

Im testing it in Auro antivirus so I sent the question to them. I'll see what they say.