Robert Siciliano warns that spyware costing as little as $50 can turn any phone into a listening device. One woman's ex-boyfriend used it to track her location, read texts, and hear conversations for three years. Look for unexplained screen activity or background noise on calls, and consider reinstalling your phone's operating system to remove hidden software.
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We have a story now that should raise red flags for all of us who rely on our cell phones. It turns out that just about any one of them can be transformed into a bugging device worthy of the CIA in just a few minutes. And as Lisa Fletcher is here to tell us, it doesn't take a spy to do it. Lisa?
Oh, it sure doesn't, George. You know, we've all heard the stories about how the GPS in your phone can track you, but we had no idea how much about your personal life that people can learn through your cell phone until we met a woman whose cell phone nearly cost her her life.
He knew where I was all the time. If I was at dinner somewhere, he would text me and ask me how dinner was.
Susan says her ex-boyfriend stalked her for 3 years using only her cell phone to do it. She's so afraid for her life, she asked us to disguise her identity.
I thought I was going crazy. It's just unnerving knowing that somebody 24/7 knows where you're at, what you're talking about, what's going on, everything about you.
At the time, Susan didn't know that her ex-boyfriend installed widely available software on her phone when she wasn't looking. Once installed, he could be anywhere, even in a different state, and track her every move. He could listen in on her phone calls, read her text messages, and turned her personal cell phone into a bugging device.
He would text me, "How was dinner? Was the date good?
Did you enjoy yourself at Friday's?" She feared for her life and called the police, who put her in protective custody and put him in jail.
When he got out of jail, within 20 minutes, he was outside my hotel room.
When somebody remotely activates your phone, you're not gonna know it, and they can use that phone to monitor you They can monitor the conversations in the room that you're in.
Security expert Robert Siciliano gets countless emails from victims of cell phone spying.
Your phone could be sitting next to you while you're watching TV, and somebody can actually log into your phone and they can watch what you are watching on television.
We found thousands of sites promoting this type of software, boasting products to catch cheating spouses, bug meeting rooms, or track your kids. But ultimately, this software enables anyone to do exactly what Susan's ex-boyfriend did.
Someone can easily install a spyware program on your phone that allows them to see every single thing that you do all day long via the phone's video camera.
Here's how it works. For as little as $50, you can download cell phone spy software. With her permission, I installed the software on a colleague's phone and sent her out to see how it worked.
And everyone else in the family is doing good?
I just intercepted a live phone call. She has no idea that I'm listening in. And the most frightening part of this technology? She doesn't even need to be on the phone.
Or like I've seen Pop Rocks.
Perfect. I can remotely activate her speakerphone and hear everything going on. Susan even changed her number 10 times.
I'd go and change my number at the cell phone store and he would be calling me on my way home on my new cell phone number.
After 3 terrifying years, Susan realized the software was on her phone. She got a new one, and it seems the nightmare has ended.
You're never the same after this. I think you become a lot more aware of your surroundings. You just make it day to day and keep living.
And by now you are probably wondering, how is this legal? And that is the gray area with all of this. George, it is legal to sell, but not necessarily legal to use.
Well, I don't think I get that, but let's get down to some practical tips for people. It took Lisa 3 years to find out. How long does— how How can you tell if this spyware is on your phone and how can you get rid of it if it is?
It's tough. Um, our experts say you look for a couple of things. If the screen on your phone lights up and you're not using it, that's a sign. If you get unsolicited text messages, that's a clue. And if you hear ambient noise when you're on the phone, that could be a sign that there's soft, uh, spyware on the phone. What you can do is two things. One, get rid of the phone entirely, get a new phone, or Call your cell phone service provider and have them walk you through the reinstallation of the operating system. Our experts tell us when you reinstall the operating system, you wipe out any spyware that could be there.
Okay, Lisa Fletcher, thanks very much. We have more tips on our website at abcnews.com.
