Over 560,000 Tricked Into Downloading Malware from Google Play

AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

[H]ard|Gawd
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Even though Google is rejecting and removing Play Store apps at a furious pace, some malware is still getting through with relative ease. Forbes reports that more than 560,000 users have downloaded at least one of 13 malicious apps from a developer called "Luiz O Pinto." These apps masqueraded as car, truck, or bike driving simulators, but didn't really simulate any driving at all. After running one of these apps for the first time, the icon would disappear, and a background process would display ads whenever the device is unlocked. As far as I can tell, the apps have since been removed from the Play Store, but they were clearly copies of existing, popular apps. "Luxury Car Parking", for example, has the same title as an app from Oppana Games (which, ironically, has many negative reviews for displaying an excessive amount of ads), and uses a mirrored version of the exact same icon.

Google could do better to protect users on Google Play, Stefanko added. "Many times it would be simply enough to scan apps with anti-virus software before uploading them on to Google Play," he said. Given Google owns an organization that could do just that, Virus Total, that shouldn't be too much of an ask.

EDIT: If this malware still exists on the Play Store, I apologize for the mistake. There are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of "Luxury Car Parking," apps, and they ALL have similar icon with what appear to be the exact same Unity assets...
 
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Master_shake_ said:
display ads whenever it's unlocked?

sounds like every fucking free app i've ever installed.

well sans the icon disappearing.
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Yep, and it makes me feel nostalgic for my iPhone 4... It's not that the app store was cleaner, but running junk in the background was physically impossible back then (assuming you didn't jailbreak). If an app was trash, at least it was self-contained trash.
 
Master_shake_ said:
display ads whenever it's unlocked?

sounds like every fucking free app i've ever installed.

well sans the icon disappearing.
Click to expand...
The worst I've ever come across personally was Solitaire that displayed ads every time you started the program or shuffled the deck for a new game.
 
DedEmbryonicCe11 said:
The worst I've ever come across personally was Solitaire that displayed ads every time you started the program or shuffled the deck for a new game.
Click to expand...

i thought the worst was es file explorer.

until i downloaded 3.something and signed it myself never to see an ad again.

:ROFLMAO:

update? what updates?
 
I think the worst are that have video ads. Great way to blow through your data.
 
display ads whenever it's unlocked?

sounds like every fucking free app i've ever installed.
Click to expand...

Maybe not every app but I have had to uninstall a few that did this even though I enjoyed the game. It's totally unacceptable to get forced adds when I am not playing.
 
On top of all that, it used to be fairly safe to use paid applications. However, I've recently noticed a worrying tendency of those to get "updated" with ads and in-app purchases and the like.
 
emphy said:
On top of all that, it used to be fairly safe to use paid applications. However, I've recently noticed a worrying tendency of those to get "updated" with ads and in-app purchases and the like.
Click to expand...
That's one reason why I never set apps to auto update. More often than not, app updates lead to either more ads, less privacy, or reduced features. (Exceptions obviously for trusted and sensitive apps)
 
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