I'm feeling paranoid.
I've been chatting to a guy online and I've become paranoid that he's installed spyware on my phone. Obviously he doesn't have my phone for physical access so I'm convinced he's done it remotely. I've asked online tech communities and they've said the method by which I think he's done this is pretty impossible.
I don't tend to click links he's sent me, or I run them through Google Transparency or Safe Search first. Except one, which I was copying and just lifted my finger too quickly and the page opened. Seemed to be OK. I have a Norton subscription and have run other antivirus. I asked a guy in a techy shop yesterday and he assured me that whilst clicking on a link can give you a virus I would need to have actually installed something for spyware to run. He said technically it is possible but would cost thousands and the target would be someone like Trump.
Part of me knows I'm being paranoid but there's this part of me, the part posting online about it, that keeps coming back to he must have done it.
I have been through this before, with another online friendship (I shouuld probably stay away from online friendships). But it's back and panic is settling in. I stopped backing up my photos incase I spread the spyware to my apps. Now I have a new phone and I'm afraid I'm going to 'lose' all my many many photos etc because I don't want to transfer anything to the new device. I'm also paranoid that it'll follow me even if I download all my apps from scratch (not copying them over). I even think he'll be able to see this.
I've asked online, I've asked RL people and I'm planning on going to a phone shop later to ask someone else.
I just can't shake it.