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In general, the Google Play Store is supposed to be a safer alternative compared to third-party app stores or sideloading. This is because of the review process and security systems that are designed to catch bad actors, but since no system is 100% perfect, sometimes some bad apps get through.
This is according to Trend Micro’s latest report where they claim to have discovered over 200 apps and games that are of the “Facestealer” variety or are designed to steal your hard-earned cryptocurrency where they are ironically disguised as crypto mining apps. According to Trend Micro:
“The Facestealer spyware was first documented in July 2021 in a report by Dr. Web detailing how it stole Facebook credentials from users via fraudulent apps from Google Play. These stolen credentials could then be used to compromise Facebook accounts for malicious purposes such as phishing scams, fake posts, and ad bots.”
Some of the apps that they have listed as an example include:
- Daily Fitness OL
- Enjoy Photo Editor
- Panorama Camera
- Photo Gaming Puzzle
- Swarm Photo
- Business Meta Manager
- Cryptomining Farm Your own Coin
As Trend Micro recommends, one of the ways users can look out for bad actor apps would be to check the reviews, especially those that are particularly negative to see why those reviews are negative, for example if an app is behaving suspiciously or asking for permissions it might not need.
In the meantime, if you have any of the apps above installed on your phone, you’ll probably want to delete them, change your Facebook passwords (and consider enabling two-factor authentication if you haven’t already), and check your crypto wallets to make sure nothing has been stolen.
Source: PhoneArena
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