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Apps have become a headache. Even when we install them from stores like Google Play or the App Store, we run the risk of opening the door to apps that are only the bait to sneak spam and advertising into our mobiles. Or worse: take control of our mobile or steal our data.
Perhaps it has happened to you, and that you are not the only one. According to a new reported case, a series of apps were downloaded more than 2 million times before it was discovered that they were a scam. We tell you the details.
Apps that claim to be what they are not
Applications that promise filters and effects for your selfies, apps with apparent VPN functions or those that claim to have hundreds of original wallpapers. These are some of the "tempting offers" of the apps that end up being a scam.
As an Avast report mentions, 7 malicious apps that used adware techniques had millions of downloads on Google Play and the Apple Store before a report was opened and found to be a scam. They were cataloged in stores as entertainment, music or wallpaper apps to deceive users.
However, once users installed them, the nightmare began. Some of these "harmless apps" were HiddenAds, a Trojan that fills the device with intrusive advertising with a dynamic that is difficult for users to detect.
Users start to see advertising almost in every interaction they make on mobile. And if they look in the app drawer trying to detect some strange app, they won't find any clues. Why? The Trojan hides the application icon, thus leaving the source of the advertisement invisible to the user.
In other cases, the app was downloaded as free, but users had to pay as soon as it was installed to access some supposed games, which were never there. This is the list shared by the Avast team of this series of apps, along with the mechanism they use:
Google play
- ThemeZone - Shawky App Free - Shock My Friends
Users are tricked into paying for a mini game that doesn't exist. And of course, you are plagued with ads.
- Tap Roulette ++ Shock my Friend It
promises a game that is only an excuse to activate the dynamics of the HiddenAds adware.
- Ulimate Music Downloader - Free Download Music
Following the dynamics of the previous app, when the user wants to play any of the songs, he activates the adware.
App Store
- Shock My Friends - Satuna - 666 Time
These two apps trick users by charging $ 8 for a non-existent feature.
- ThemeZone - Live Wallpapers
This app charges in different ways, but it doesn't deliver what it promises.
- Shock my friend tap roulette v
Charge $ 5 for a feature that doesn't exist.
Take precautions and don't believe everything you see
This Avast report is no exception, we have already seen many cases of malicious apps that sneak into users' mobile phones. Without a doubt, it is a slap on the wrist for the security of stores like Google Play or App Store that do not find an effective way to deal with this problem.
However, there is another factor that played an important role in this new case presented by Avast: promotion on social networks from popular profiles. According to the report, some of these applications were promoted from different TikTok and Instagram profiles, one of them with more than 300 thousand followers. In the videos of the TikTok profiles you can see the supposed app in action and how much fun you can have with your friends.
A combined strategy that worked for them, as they had more than 2.4 million downloads and generated thousands of dollars. So think more than twice before installing an application on your mobile, and take your precautions before falling in love with the “so spectacular” functions that they can offer you.
