N1 automatically sending SMS to an uknown number

[dakial]

Hi all!

I've posted this in the N1 help forum from google, but maybe someone here can help me with this (if I get any good reply there I'll re-post it here):

I've been getting some strange SMS charges on my monthly bill, and checkin them closely I've found out that apparently my N1 is sending SMS to an uknown number (6592324290), and the odd thing is that those SMS don't appear on my SMS program.

To do a closer investigation I decided to call the number, which, called from inside Brasil network, goes to a cellphone in a small city. The guy told me that he doesn't know what is happening but he is receiving an average of 40 SMS's on a daily basis, and that they appear to be crypted.

My conclusions are that some app is sending those SMS aiming another cell number (in some other country) and because I'm in Brazil this poor guy is receiving them.

The questions are:

1) How can I find which app is doing that?
2) And how can I remove the SMS permission that it has??

Thanks in advance!!!

Daniel

 

[sookster54]

Sheesh yet another incident related to Brazil, sounds like a malicious app or two out there. List the apps you have installed.

 

[Ozymandias88]

I don't think its possible to remove a single permission for an app but go through all your apps in the settings and use the menu button on each one to check what security permissions it has. That should vllllbe a good start at least. Your going to haves to make an educated guess about which app it is.

 

[dakial]

Somebody at the google's N1 help forum said that WaveSecure (which I have installed) has a history of incidents of sending SMS automatically. I've sent an email to WaveSecure to ask them about it.

So If you have WaveSecure you might check your bill for unknown outbound SMS messages.

 

[wayrad]

Kaspersky announced last month that they had found a malware app disguised as a media player that would send unauthorized SMSs. They didn't give the name of the app, though.
P.S. Aha, it's called "Movie Player" and has only been reported to affect phones in Russia, at least so far.

 

[pooohbaah]

You should check your phone's permission settings to see which apps have this ability, then isolate them one-by-one to find the problem app.

My phone is rooted with cryogenmod, and I don't remember if this is different than stock, but I do this from the home screen:

Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Show Permissions

Scroll down to "send SMS messages" in this list. Click it to see what apps have this authority.

My phone shows 6 apps that can send SMS messages, and they all look legit.

 

[ankurtech86]

I am facing the same issue with my Sony Xperiaz. Please let me know if anyone was able to find the fix.

 

[Hadron]

Given that this thread is 5 years old, and that none of the members involved have been active on AF since 2013, it's unlikely you'll get an answer from them.

Could you give us some more details of your problem? Knowing what phone & OS version, what network, and anything you can tell us about the number these messages are going to, how frequent they are, might all help. What message apps you have installed might also be useful to know. It's hard to diagnose problems without information, and it's very likely that what's causing your problem now is not the same thing that was affecting the original poster 5 years ago.

Also, and maybe most importantly, what apps do you have installed which have the permission to send SMS? If you don't know that, install an app which has a permissions explorer (Addons Detector or many security apps) and use it to check. Because if it is an app sending them then it will need that permission in order to do so.

 

[zuben el genub]

Why don't you people with the problem list apps? Maybe you can find a common denominator. Back up and then see if you can check permissions on all of your apps. You might have to look in Play or try Appbrain if the info isn't on the phone. A new update might have also given an app permission to send SMS. If you just update automatically, you wouldn't see the permission.

There is something funny about Brazil and computers. A couple of years ago, Yahoo decided my IP number was from Brazil, and I got Portuguese spam. I did get my US spam, too.

I also don't know about now - but a couple of years ago I was looking at TMOUS bands and Brazil was the only total match.
(1700 and 1900 band usage)