SMS Virus? Is this possible!?

[DonutGuard]

The other day my friend told me that he got a message through Face Book from me that was a keylogger link. I looked, and I had sent a similar message to everybody on my friends list, and it was sent through FB mobile.

I downloaded Droid Antivirus software (lookout and antivirus) and antivirus came up with an "SMS" based virus (in other words something that was received through text messages) Right now I'm REALLY concerned about everything in my phone as far as information goes... this thing has phone numbers, addresses, e-mails... everything.

What can I do to be totally, and 100% sure that I've fixed this, and how can I prevent it from happening again? Right now, I'm changing passwords for everything that may have been compromised on the phone.

P.S. I feel like a total noob right now. I've gone a very long time on my computer without getting viruses or spyware, or any of that... I've only had my phone for a couple of weeks now and it's already got one. I didn't even know you could GET a virus on a phone!

 

[kennyidaho]

Sure you didn't get phished? Sounds like you clicked on a phishing link - met a page that looked like facebook login and then logged in? I bet you did.

Change your facebook password and I bet it stops.

 

[DonutGuard]

Sure you didn't get phished? Sounds like you clicked on a phishing link - met a page that looked like facebook login and then logged in? I bet you did.

Change your facebook password and I bet it stops.

Yeah, I'm sure it's possible. I already changed my FB password through my computer in case there's a keylogger attached to whatever happened on my phone.

In fact, I changed the password for my e-mail (hotmail and google) myspace, and even Last.fm and Pandora Radio.

 

[kennyidaho]

What details did it offer on that SMS virus?

 

[tsaunders]

There was an iPhone virus that could be sent over text if you got a square as a text messages it was the virus.

 

[snake_fist_gung_fu]

Its possible but most Viruses are made in VB(PC) so it will not infect your phone cause its a Linux shell I believe. Someone wrote the text message Virus for the Iphone. I think it was the first one of its kind and you had to have the Jailbreak.

 

[alostpacket]

Far far far more likely that you just got a FB virus that has nothing to do with your phone.

Tell us the name of the security app you downloaded and what message it gave you exactly, and we'll help try and run down all angles for you

 

[DonutGuard]

Far far far more likely that you just got a FB virus that has nothing to do with your phone.

Tell us the name of the security app you downloaded and what message it gave you exactly, and we'll help try and run down all angles for you

The name of the anti-virus is literally just "Droid Antivirus" here's the website for the developers: droidSecurity -Keeping Android Devices Safe

The info it gave me wasn't very detailed... unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of anti-virus programs out there. I did download another one though called "Lookout" which has some pretty neat features as well including the ability to access your phone from any browser in order to locate it via GPS or use an (incredibly) loud siren to help find it if you misplace it. It didn't find any additional problems with the phone, nor did it double check the SMS that antivirus picked up. However, lookout does activate every time I get a text message to scan it for malware, which is nice.

The info antivirus DID give me was directly on the message I received. All it said was "Suspicious SMS" and then the message, which looked like it was from Verizon Wireless. Message is as follows:

900080004000: --Suspicious SMS-- VZW Free Msg Your p******* for My Verizon has been changed. If you didn't request this change, please call customer service. --Checked by antivirus-droidsecurity.com

I called the number it came from, and it basically says the call cannot be completed and to hangup and talk to a customer service rep by dialing *611 followed by a long service code. I don't remember ever changing my PW for My Verizon, but I don't see how this could be related to FB either so you're probably right about it not being phone related. I probably did just fall for a phishing scam at some point.

 

[alostpacket]

Ah OK, I think I follow what happened here. You should follow up with Verizon over the phone by calling the number on their site or *611 from your mobile phone.

It looks like what happened is you got a computer virus/spamware at some point relating to facebook or email. Coincidentally you had that (imo useless) anti-virus app really warning you about a real message from Verizon.

900080004000 is a number they use that is un-routable and you shouldn't call it (because it wont go anywhere). If you are ever in doubt, look up a company's phone number yourself and contact them. Do NOT give out information to anyone contacting you. And don't try and call companies back with a number they supply in a voice mail or text message. This should be a general rule for all companies you are a customer of.

However, *611 is the customer service number for Verizon. You can verify this by going to VZW's website under the "support" or "contact us" section.

So what happened here is the virus probably propagates via facebook mobile. Notice that you can go to that site with any browser: try clicking here: Welcome to Facebook | Facebook.
However, if it was accessing facebook from the facebook app on your phone those message would have been tagged with "Facebook for Android."

Essentially what this means is just that while the virus is probably on your desktop computer it uses the Facebook Mobile site instead of the regular one. It has no bearing whatsoever on where the virus originated.


If I were you, I would find a friend with good computer security skills or a Mac/Linux box, and go back and again change all of your passwords to be sure. Then complete wipe your PC at home and reinstall windows. Also get yourself some anti-virus app for the PC, I recommend Avast or Kapersky. And a firewall & NAT'd router. As for firewalls, I'm a fan for COMODO. Also malwarebytes is a pretty good anti-malware app.

If you want to learn a bit more about Android application security, you can read my guide here:
http://androidforums.com/android-ap...ps-avoid-viruses-guide-those-new-android.html

Hope that helps.

 

[DonutGuard]

Yeah, I did a spyware/virus sweep of my computer too just to be sure. Came up with nothing, but I needed an excuse to build a new computer anyway. I built this one like 5 or 6 years ago. It's kind of sad that I used to be privy on all the tech stuff back then, and now I'm relearning everything. This must be what it feels like to be old