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People who own Android smartphones are being warned about malicious software masquerading as a legitimate antivirus app.
This almost cruel spoofing involves clicking on an app that supposedly protects your phone from viruses and infecting your phone.
And unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon, this type of fake app scam was first discovered in early 2021. This joins a very long list of ways scammers try to take over your phone, and one of the latest alerts came via WhatsApp.
Clicking on the new version, known as the Android Banking Trojan, exposes your phone and its data to hackers who can retrieve your data and even empty your bank account with the details they retrieve.
Cybersecurity researchers at NCC Group’s Fox-IT were the first to warn about this type of software.
They explained that a new version of the Vultur banking trojan was detected with several significant changes in the way it targets victims since it was first discovered three years ago.
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They explain that previous versions of the Vultur banking Trojan were found installed on people’s phones via apps smuggled into the Google Play Store.
The updated app is a combination of what’s known as smishing (sending fake mobile text messages to trick you into downloading malware) and a legitimate app.
According to the report, one version of this malware pretends to be McAfee, a legitimate antivirus software that you can download to keep your phone safe.
Cybercriminals target victims by sending them alerts about fraudulent payments from their accounts.
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To resolve it, you will be sent a phone number to call.
However, this is a scam that instructs the baited victim to download a malicious version of the McAfee Security app from the Play Store.
The app is loaded into the Play Store via a malware dropper called Brunhilda. Brunhilda tries to take control of your phone by injecting her three types of malware into the device.
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Victims are left with hackers recording their phone screens, tracking their keyboards to learn passwords, and remotely accessing their devices from anywhere in the world.
“Android users are automatically protected from known versions of this malware by Google Play Protect, which is enabled by default on Android devices with Google Play Services,” a Google spokesperson told BleepingComputer. ” he said.
“Google Play Protect can warn users or block apps that are known to exhibit malicious behavior, even if those apps come from sources outside of Play.”
Featured image credit: Nikolas Kokovlis/Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Crime, Phones, Samsung, Technology, UK News, US News, World News, Google
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