Someone I know hacked my samsung A54 5G and has set it to wipe on restart. He has done this before and I lost everything. Is there a way to stop it? I have too much on phone and dont want to lose it. What can I do?
Hello, welcome to the Community, and thanks for reaching out about this. I can certainly understand the concern over a hacked device that wipes the phone when restarted, and see how it is frustrating. @ArtDesk made great suggestions, and in addition to those, this guide can help you with hacked devices, or telling if it is actually hacked or just the result of a rogue third-party application: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/troubleshooting/TSG01209886/
You can also try clearing your device's cache with the following steps (this will not erase any files like a factory reset would): - Power off your device. - While the device is powered off, simultaneously press and hold the power and volume up buttons. - Once the Samsung logo appears, release both buttons. Your device should boot into recovery mode.
Using the volume buttons to navigate and the power button to select:
- Navigate to "wipe cache partition" and press power. - Select yes to confirm. - Navigate down to "Repair apps" and press power.
If the troubleshooting is not helpful, the phone will need to be evaluated by a certified technician. For service in the U.S., you can take the phone to a local U.S. walk-in service location https://www.ubreakifix.com/samsung or to ship the phone in for service, please reach out to us via one of the following options: 1. Facebook Messenger: http://m.me/samsungsupport 2. Twitter: https://twitter.com/messages/compose?recipient_id=18768513- 3. Private Message: https://bit.ly/3hzZfw8 If the PM link is not working for you, you can click on my name and send me a private message directly from my profile.
Yes, turn off your wifi and pop out your sim card. Do a factory reset a couple of times. Make sure there is nothing in your sim tray. On another device, change your SSID on your wifi. Setup your device with no connectivity. Skip the sign in screens. Change your dns to dns.adguard.com or 1.1.1.1. Something not automatic. Make sure no connectivity is automatic. When you require connectivity, use ethernet to finish the setup. Get a VPN and set it to always on. Put your sim card in last. Turn on datasaver and set all apps to wifi only. Make sure wifi is never autoconnect. Keep location settings turned off. Turn it on manually at need.
The information above is because if someone hacked into your phone, they either did it via wi-fi or put the instruction on the sim. Most likely, removing the sim and restarting your phone will bypass the instruction.
If you had your phone set to auto backup, you should be able to restore your backup if the phone is reset. Make sure you have a recent backup, and it wouldn't hurt to do a manual backup before restarting your phone. You can manually back up some things to your computer (if you have one) using link to windows or via usb cable. I think you can also use smart switch. After your phone resets, logging into your Google and/or Samsung accounts should automatically restore your backups, or you can manually restore.
The rest is telling you how to protect yourself from it happening again. I hope this person you know isn't a friend, and if they are, it's time to dump them. If they are not a friend, but you know who's doing it, I'd put in a police report, as that is malicious mischief. Never share your passwords (and don't reuse or use common passwords) or leave your phone unlocked around anyone, as no one can be trusted.
In the permissions menu. The three dots in the upper right corner. Under special access. Under wifi control, turn off unnecessary access. Under usage data access, again turn off everything unnecessary. Same for install unknown apps. Apps that can always use data. Change system settings and device admin apps and manage media. Put all unused apps in deep sleep under device care. I know it's a lot, but you will get control and better battery life. Turn autosync off, too.
You can get scam apps on your phone but this sounds like you are trying to get into a phone that you don't have a password to and after 5 attempts it data wipes the whole phone. This is for all of you to hear.....YOU CANNOT 'HACK' AN ANDROID WITHOUT FIRST USING ADB TOOLS TO ROOT OR JAILBREAK THE PHONE WHILE PHYSICALLY CONNECTED THE PHONE TO A PC THROUGH A CABLE. You all really shouldn't have a device if you know nothing about it.
Hello, welcome to the Community, and thanks for reaching out about this. I can certainly understand the concern over a hacked device that wipes the phone when restarted, and see how it is frustrating. @ArtDesk made great suggestions, and in addition to those, this guide can help you with hacked devices, or telling if it is actually hacked or just the result of a rogue third-party application: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/troubleshooting/TSG01209886/
You can also try clearing your device's cache with the following steps (this will not erase any files like a factory reset would): - Power off your device. - While the device is powered off, simultaneously press and hold the power and volume up buttons. - Once the Samsung logo appears, release both buttons. Your device should boot into recovery mode.
Using the volume buttons to navigate and the power button to select:
- Navigate to "wipe cache partition" and press power. - Select yes to confirm. - Navigate down to "Repair apps" and press power.
If the troubleshooting is not helpful, the phone will need to be evaluated by a certified technician. For service in the U.S., you can take the phone to a local U.S. walk-in service location https://www.ubreakifix.com/samsung or to ship the phone in for service, please reach out to us via one of the following options: 1. Facebook Messenger: http://m.me/samsungsupport 2. Twitter: https://twitter.com/messages/compose?recipient_id=18768513- 3. Private Message: https://bit.ly/3hzZfw8 If the PM link is not working for you, you can click on my name and send me a private message directly from my profile.
