This morning, I was automatically added to a group chat using my phone number without even giving my permission. There were like hundreds of people I didn’t know being added per second like not a normal person could do but a bot. I immediately left the group as soon as i could but before I did, my phone started blowing up notifications saying the person who added me had “joined” my apps! (They were official iPhone notifications not a fake scary message on websites) Like how is this possible? They seemed to have access to my personal apps like Japanese language, photo filters and banking stuff. I was so scared because my phone has cards attached to it, important photos in my gallery and I’m just so paranoid right now. I immediately deleted all the apps that they joined but I don’t know how much of my phone was accessed. How is it possible that a random person who had my number got access to my phone apps just by adding me in a group chat on line. I’ve been racking my brains whether to reset my phone but I have like 5 years worth of stuff and 7,000 photos on there and a lot more. Does anyone have this experience? Was I hacked? What can I do? I also turned off all line add options but I’m just baffled. I can’t trace them through the apps they accessed and my phone won’t backup because I’m at work now without wifi and only limited data. Sorry for the long message but this has never happened to me before. The name of the person was in Japanese but I left the group so quickly that I didn’t get the chance to check.
Tl;dr: phone got hacked though a group chat on Line app.
Update: There was an app that was installed on my phone that was hidden and not in my home screen. I deleted as soon as I saw it. Please be safe guys!
6 comments
go to settings -> privacy -> uncheck allow others to add me by ID. you are good
That seems like a huge security flaw. What kind of phone are you using?
Like the other user said you can turn off all options for random people to add you by ID and number, and also reject any messages from outside your friends list.
There was a security bulletin today about something called a Joker variant being hidden in a ton of legit-looking apps. I can’t link it here due to my low karma, but it’s easy to find:
Google for: June 2022 review of virus activity on mobile devices
I put an antivirus on my wife’s phone today for this specific reason!
I think [you’ve been bamboozeled](https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/19806-your-iphone-has-been-compromised-pop-up-scam-mac), OP. Your camera filters are safe.
You need to tell Line. Either someone found a vulnerability in 100+ phones using line, or someone found a vulnerability in line with specific phone configurations. Either way, Line needs to investigate and protect its users from a zero day attacker.
Make sure your phone is patched, and don’t download a bunch of apps. The less apps you put on your phone, the better.
What was the name of the app installed