China squashes thousands of malicious mobile apps in anti-fraud drive
Since the start of the year, thousands of apps and websites have been blacklisted
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China’s internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has moved to shut down thousands of malicious apps found to be impersonating major brands and government agencies and defrauding users.
“Since the beginning of this year, the Anti-Fraud Center of the CAC has investigated and cracked down on 42,000 counterfeit apps,” the organization said in its announcement.
That brings the total number of apps banned to 514,000, while the number of blocked websites now exceeds 3.8 million,The Registerreports.
Malicious apps
In the majority of instances, the crooks impersonated major brands, such as JD. Sometimes, the apps would entice victims into buying products at a cheaper price than available elsewhere, and sometimes they would advertise amazing investment opportunities. In other cases, they would simply infect victims withmalware.
Every time, though, it would end the same way: with the victims losing their money. The CAC says individuals have lost anywhere between $1,500 and $60,000 as a result of these schemes.
Users are advised to only download apps to theirendpointsfrom official sources, and to verify any and all identities before sending out their money, or trying to purchase anything.
Best identity management software of 2022>Chinese VidMate app fraud hits up to half a billion users>US adds AliExpress and WeChat to online fraud and piracy list
As perThe Register’sreport, the Chinese government has zero-tolerance for crime and corruption, but this hasn’t stopped crooks from engaging in illegal activities. Of all the different types of fraud, those conducted via phone andemailare the most prevalent.
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In 2019, for example, it was discovered that the popular Chinese Android app VidMate was secretly hijacking people’s smartphones to use additional data, incur unwanted charges, and collect personal information. The app has had more than 500 million downloads.
The software hidden within the app delivered invisible ads, generated fake clicks and purchases, installed suspicious apps without consent and collected user data. Furthermore, it depleted users’ data allowance, bringing additional, unwanted charges.
Via:The Register
Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.
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