In Brief:
- As per Trend Micro research, victims have been duped by 8 misleading mobile apps.
According to a report of 18th August by cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, Google has deleted 8 fraudulent mobile apps posing as crypto cloud mining apps from the Play Store.
The company detected 8 misleading programs that pretended to be cryptocurrency cloud mining apps in order to deceive users.
“Cybercriminals are actively exploiting people’s curiosity in learning about mining cryptocurrencies not just by deploying cryptocurrency-mining malware, but by building bogus Android apps that target individuals interested in virtual money,” the business claimed in a blog post.
“We recently discovered eight deceptive mobile apps that masquerade as cryptocurrency cloud mining applications,” it added.
Fraudulent apps that are now no longer available on the Play Store are:
- BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining
- Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining
- Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet
- Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining
- Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System
- Bitcoin 2021
- MineBit Pro – Crypto Cloud Mining & btc miner
- Ethereum (ETH) – Pool Mining Cloud
Among these, Crypto Holic costs US$12.99 to download, while Daily Bitcoin Rewards costs US$5.99.
Still, a Google Play search for the terms “cloud mining” yields a slew of similar apps. Over 100,000 people have downloaded some of these apps.
“More than 120 false cryptocurrency mining apps are still available online, according to Trend Micro’s Mobile App Reputation Service (MARS). Between July 2020 and July 2021, around 4,500 people were affected by these apps, which do not have cryptocurrency mining capabilities and trick users into watching in-app adverts “It was stated.
Programs with Zero Crypto Mining Capabilities:
According to the investigation of the 8 malicious programs, none of them truly provided cryptocurrency mining. To simulate phoney mining activity, a local mining simulation module, with a counter and some random functions were used.
Despite the fact, some of these apps pushed users to pay for improved cryptocurrency mining capabilities. Installments priced from $14.99 to $189.99.
The Most Effective type of Deception:
One such app, Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System, for example, encouraged users. They increased their crypto mining capacity by “buying” their favourite mining rigs in order to earn more coins faster.
Trend Micro also discovered that some of these phoney crypto mining apps lured users. They did by clicking on advertisements rather than paying for more processing power.
Cryptocurrency Withdrawals are not Permitted:
“Users will not receive any revenue even if they browse in-app adverts. To access the withdrawal interface, users must ask numerous friends to download the app, ” Trend Micro said.
To gain access to the withdrawal interface, users were also encouraged to invite friends. Users would not withdraw cryptocurrency from the app once allowed to invite friends and open the withdrawal page. This feature would be available at all times.
Users can prevent such instances by installing and utilizing security solutions that alert them when they come across fake applications
New Google Policy Allowed Crypto ads:
Previously Google has implemented a new policy that allowed cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers to advertise on its search engine. Since August 4, Google’s new policy allowing crypto advertisements on its network will go into full force. In 2018 the corporation barred advertisements from crypto companies but later altered its mind to include a crypto exchange.
