We give a new computational method to obtain symmetries of ordinary differential equations. The proposed approach appears as an extension of a recent algorithm to compute variational symmetries of optimal control problems [P.D.F. Gouveia, D.F.M. Torres, Automatic computation of conservation laws in the calculus of variations and optimal control, Comput. Methods Appl. Math. 5 (4) (2005) 387-409], and is based on the resolution of a first order linear PDE that arises as a necessary and sufficient condition of invariance for abnormal optimal control problems. A computer algebra procedure is developed, which permits one to obtain ODE symmetries by the proposed method. Examples are given, and results compared with those obtained by previous available methods.