My mom was approached by a scammer pretending to be a contractor about replacing our water meter. He rushed her so she wouldn't have time to think clearly, and while she was distracted, she almost gave him remote access to her phone. I managed to stop her in time, but unfortunately, the malicious app had already made some progress before I got home. I'm currently backing up her important files before doing a factory reset on her Android device. Are there any additional steps I should take to ensure the phone is completely clean?
2 Answers
Don't forget to change all of her passwords right away to secure her accounts. Also, if she was using an eSIM, it's important to contact her carrier to get a new one and deactivate the old one to prevent the scammer from cloning her SIM.
Performing a factory reset is a great start! It will encrypt and erase all data, returning the phone to its original state. If you're feeling extra cautious, you could try to find the complete firmware image and install it yourself, but keep in mind that many carriers don't share these easily, and it can be a pain to do. In most cases, though, a factory reset should be sufficient.
Got it, that's a smart move! It's to prevent cloning the SIM, right? Thanks for the heads up!