Well, this is something I did not expect. Malware on my Android smartphone (Samsung Galaxy). I got a text message from what I thought was Sprint, my carrier. In that message was a link for me to click on. Now, I should have known better. I do maintenance on computers to supplement my retirement income. I always tell people to not click on links in email or IMs from people you don't know. If you do, chances are you will be downloading a virus or spyware. Well, like an idiot, I didn't take my own advice by clicking on a link in a text message. The link took me to some worthless product I had no interest in whatsoever. So, I clicked it off. Little did I know that installed the spyware on my phone.

The next day I noticed my phone was warm to the touch. I thought that was unusual. I had never noticed it before. My phone also died after a short two hours of being off the charger at night. I have had this phone for only three months. It is not really possible for the battery to go bad on me already. I also got a phone call from Sprint. They told me it is possible that I have spyware on my phone. I was astounded. I didn't think that was possible. But, they noticed I had sent over 50 text messages to numbers overseas, one right after another. They wanted to see if I had lost my phone. I gave some identifying information for them, including a private ID number I got when I bought the phone. They told me if it is spyware, it is very expensive to get rid of and the average person can't do it. What they did advise me to do is take the battery out completely and leave it out overnight.

Apparently, taking the battery out overnight did the trick. No more warm phone, no more texts to number overseas. Sprint advised they would not charge me this time. But, they insisted I use a pass code to lock my phone so as to prevent anyone from using it but me. Hopefully, this will take care of the problem. If not, I would probably be better off just turning the phone in and buying another due to the expense of getting rid of the spyware on my smartphone. If you have a smartphone, be smart. Don't click on a link from someone with whom you are not familiar. I was dumb. Lesson learned.

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