Help please phone hack/clone question

[FreshFancyFrogglette]

Hi,

I have googled, but not managed to reassure myself. So am asking if anyone here who knows about android phones (specially Huawei) can save me a trip to ee. I have a paranoid thoughts so I might be over thinking this, but on the other hand phone hacking/cloning can happen, so I want to be sure.

Is it possible for a friend or relative to hack into your phone to access your contacts list? If so how? Is there any way I can check (aside from monitoring battery use, find my phone location, heat etc). I mean a very specific way.

I have an app called 'clone my phone', which I think I installed when I got the phone a few years ago to move data from old phone to the new, could it be hacked by another person with a Huawei phone to get my data?

After sitting next to the person I'm suspicious of I got a pop ask inviting me to update software, but when I went into my settings there were no updates! This along with a terrible dodgy line, increased battery use. Changes in temp have made me suspicious.

Please help.. I don't want to waste the time of the phone companies right now. But I have sensitive contact info on there.

Thank you for your help.

Your phone company can't help you.

Someone who has access to your phone can, of course, hack it. They could install spyware on your phone. However, they need physical access to your phone while it is unlocked to install spyware. It is, of course, possible for you to get malware in other ways (clicking on a dodgy link, for example), but that is highly unlikely to be a targeted attack. If you have picked up malware that way the attacker is almost certainly someone you don't know.

Someone else with a Huawei phone could use the Phone Clone app to get your data but, as with spyware, they would need physical access to your unlocked phone to do so. Getting your data that way wouldn't leave any evidence on your phone but also means they would only get a snapshot of the information as it was at that time. They wouldn't see any changes to your data.

The pop up is highly unlikely to be relevant. Spyware and the like doesn't want to be noticed, so wouldn't display a message like that. It may be that the update was applied automatically.

If you are concerned, install antivirus software from a reputable supplier and run a full scan.

If it's an android phone, they can also access a lot of your info through your gmail account if they know, or can guess the password.

Thank you so much! Big help. You've put my mind at rest. They've never had physical access to my phone. They have a Huawei phone, and I have clone app, but never used and it, and they've never had access to my phone, and keep Bluetooth off. Thank u so much for your reply!