Cell phone tethered or hacked?

Tethered is the wrong word but other than that yes, it's feasible. And it is worse.

Many cell phones by default uplaod photos and some other things to a cloud account.. That too can be hacked. (The correct terms are either Hacked or Jacked)

In any case, he should contact the authorities, Accessing his phone w/o permission is a crime. One that costs We the People over a billion dollars a year.

Still.. they treat it as "petty" .... We need to fix that too.

Sounds like he left his phone sitting somewhere w/o any screen security at all AND had all his passwords saved to the log on for the various accounts. Then they either uploaded or synced it to another machine. Disgruntled employee, wife/GF, etc?
STRIIIIIIIIIIIKE 2.
Or he sent an inappropriate message and is trying to deny it?

Just to be clear, tether has nothing what-so-ever to do with any kind of an internet connection, security issues or anything even related to hacking.
If someone you know is seeing the use of his/her personal information somewhere other than where the user expected this information to be available then his/her account has been compromised. The good news is that changing the password to that account will fix the problem TODAY!
You need to get more details about what is or is not being accessed to understand just how serious the problem actually is. If all of the pictures on my computer are being shared Nationwide I might actually be flattered. If my credit card information (never found on my computer) or my social security information (never found on my computer) is being shared I would want to delve deeply into what exactly was going on.

^^^^This is accurate. "Tether" is not really the correct term.

Tethering is using your phone like a modem, with your computer connected to it with a cable. Not very common. More common is the practice of using a phone to make a wi-fi hotspot. On my phone you must have physical possession of the phone to do it. The hotspot is secure like any other secure wi-fi---you have to choose which devices are allowed to use it.

If in some unlikely way the phone had been used as a hotspot, by someone else, it would become obvious because the data usage would go out through the roof.

And the problems may have nothing to do with the phone.

He says he doesn't use the laptop for the email accounts that were affected. He only uses his phone to access those accounts. I'm not sure what brand of phone he has; I do know it's an Android platform.

I have an iPhone 5s. I very seldom connect to a free wifi system, preferring to use my data plan instead. I do update the apps whenever the update notifications are given.

I'll pass on your recommendations to him. Thanks a lot.

There are really two common scenarios that could account for the explanation:
1) a Man in the Middle attack. This is when you go to a public location to user their free WIFI and another person sets a fake WIFI network. Your phone would not be able to tell the difference from the fake and a real one. They essentially "inspect" all your traffic as it goes thru their machine and they will scrape username, passwords etc. There is very little you can do to prevent this as it is almost impossible to know when someone is in the middle of your connection. The best way to prevent this type of attack is to not connect to a free WIFI in an unusual location IE McDonald WIFI at a Burgerking would be a big red flag. Also after you connect to a free WIFI, it is a good idea to go back into your network settings and delete any free WIFI because once you connect to a WIFI called McDonalds, your phone will always check in the background for a WIFI called McDonalds and if your neighbors kid who is a hacker sets up a Man in the Middle attack using a network called McDonalds, your phone will automatically connect without you knowing.
2) the phone could be hacked. Android are about the most susceptible platform on the market to hacking, especially the cheap $0 phones. If you have a phone update its firmware and apps frequently as they often have bug fixes to prevent hacking. If your phone has never had updates to the firmware be afraid, there is a good chance it is a cheap one and the manufacturer will never do updates to plug the security holes. Also do not root the phone or download apps directly from the net, always use the Play Store or Amazon store you are far less likely to run into an bad app. Apple are also popular for hacking so update the apps and the firmware whenever possible as well. If it was hacked, best option is copy off all important stuff like photos and wipe the device and reinstall everything.

8ntw8tn wrote:
He says it could have only been his phone that was hacked because the laptop never leaves home, is connected to a secure router, and that he only uses his phone for the email/forum sites.

Your email and forums can be hacked without having anything to do with the device accessing them.

Are you saying his email is fine on the laptop, and not on the phone?

He says it could have only been his phone that was hacked because the laptop never leaves home, is connected to a secure router, and that he only uses his phone for the email/forum sites.

In order for the spyware or cloning to happen would someone have to take physical possession of the phone?

Sounds like connecting to an illegitimate wifi system is the most likely culprit.

I understand the hotspot function. I use it frequently when we're in Texas so I can have a secure connection for internet banking, credit card payments, etc. It was the primary reason I was dragged into the 21st century and got a smartphone.

Thanks for the responses.

In addition to Don's comment, he might have connected to a WiFi system that was set up to appear legitimate but was not. Then all his account credentials could have been compromised or leaked.

Tethered usually means directly connected by a wire. A hotspot is a wireless connection.

I don't know how he would even know it was his phone that was hacked.