Technology

Researchers at Avast highlight fake apps on Google Play Store

A number of apps on Google Play Store are fake and aimed towards exploiting users unawares, says Avast.

Tech Desk November 05, 2021

While there may be various scam emails and links that may pop up on the screen that has to be avoided at all costs, there has recently been a new collection of fake apps on the Google Play Store for Android devices, as reported by BGR.

Avast, a cybersecurity company, has been reporting on scams such as a campaign called UltimaSMS. The company claims that 151 apps were a part of the SMS campaign, disguised as legitimate photo editing tools, QR code scanners, camera filters and games. Ultimately these campaigns compel users to sign up for expensive SMS services.

Such fake apps scan for user location, IMEI and number to detect the country area code and language to be used for the scam. Once such apps are downloaded and opened, they ask users to enter phone number or email address in their own language. Once the information has been submitted, the user is automatically signed for an expensive SMS service, and the app screen will either show subscription options or would stop working.

As much as we can try to avoid scams such as these, some are too clever and will catch us unawares. Avast explained why users fall for these scams, “The apps discovered are essentially identical in structure, meaning the same base app structure is repurposed numerous times. These copies are disguised as genuine apps through well constructed app profiles on the Play Store. The profiles feature catchy photos and enticing app descriptions alongside often high review averages. However, upon closer inspection, they have generic privacy policy statements and feature basic developer profiles including generic email addresses. They also tend to have numerous negative reviews from users that correctly identified the apps as scams or have fallen for the scam.”

Moreover, most of the dangerous fake apps are being advertised on social media like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, attracting users with bright flashy ads. Android devices have already downloaded the fake apps more than 10.5 million times, but Google has taken a step to ban the applications part of the SMS campaign since then. Here’s a list of fake apps that you should watch out for and delete if you already have them on your phone:

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