Fake Cryptocurrency Mining Android Apps Clean Up $ 350,000 Scammers

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Many apps still available on third-party stores are collecting money for services that don’t exist

Security researchers have found more than 170 fraudulent Android apps claiming to offer cloud-based crypto-mining services that have collectively defrauded victims over $ 350,000.

App developers have fooled more than 93,000 users into paying around $ 300,000 in app purchases, and an additional $ 50,000 for bogus upgrades and subscriptions, according to a blog post published by Lookout Threat Lab .

Researchers have found 25 of the fake cryptocurrency mining apps on Google Play, from where Google has now removed them, but dozens more are still circulating on third-party app stores.

Chimeric currencies

Cryptocurrency mining harnesses the processing power of computers to verify cryptocurrency transactions by solving complex mathematical problems.

The appeal to the unsuspecting victims in this case was the false promise to rent cloud computing power through apps and take a small slice of every verified transaction.

The only malicious function of apps is to collect money for services that don’t exist, said Ioannis Gasparis, security intelligence engineer at Lookout Threat Lab.

Their sole purpose is to steal money from users through legitimate payment processes, but never provide the service they promise, he added.

Learn about the latest cryptocurrency security news

When users log into the apps, a slowly incrementing fictitious coin balance, which in some cases only increases when the app is running in the foreground and is often reset when the mobile device is turned on. restarted or the application restarted, Gasparis said.

Also displayed on the dashboard is a hash extraction rate which is usually very low in order to entice the user to purchase upgrades that promise faster extraction rates, daily rewards, and incentives for sponsor friends.

Users pay between $ 12.99 and $ 259.99 for this virtual hardware through the billing system built into the Google Plays app or by transferring the cryptocurrency to the developer wallet.

Insufficient funds

Some apps called CloudScam apps by researchers encounter withdrawal attempts with an insufficient balance error message, while BitScam apps prevent users from withdrawing coins until they reach a minimum balance.

Attempts to withdraw beyond a minimum threshold will trigger a message that incorrectly reports a pending withdrawal and a coin balance reset.

Cryptocurrency will likely remain a popular bait for cyber crooks, even despite the recent Bitcoin crash and China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency mining dampening hitherto rampant enthusiasm for crypto assets.

Gasparis offered advice on what to do before downloading applications offering cryptocurrency-related services.

Take your time, and if a deal is too good to be true, it’s probably not real, he said.

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