If it is too good to be true, it in all probability is! In case you missed it, Dr. Internet anti-virus revealed a report on Friday revealing a number of malicious entries it found contained in the Google Play Retailer in October.
One menace that caught our eye, nevertheless, is a gnarly app that tricked customers into considering they might generate income by watching movies and commercials. It attracted a whopping a million downloads on the Google Play Retailer, however the fact is, the app is designed to make cybercriminals cash on the backs of victims’ effort and time.
Delete ‘TubeBox’ now
Dr. Internet anti-virus found a handful of nasty apps on Google Play, together with Quick Cleaner & Cooling Grasp (a trojan masquerading as a efficiency booster), Quantity, Music Equalizer (adware pretending to be an audio app), and Bluetooth & Wi-Fi & USB driver (adware posing as a Bluetooth connection enhancer).
Probably the most sinister app amongst Dr. Internet’s menace discoveries, nevertheless, is the TubeBox app, which, as talked about, amassed multiple million downloads. It claims that customers can earn cash by watching movies and commercials. For every view, customers gather a “reward” (i.e., cash and coupons). After gathering sufficient rewards, the app claimed that they may very well be transformed into actual cash through financial institution switch and different cost methods.
However here is the kicker! When customers tried to money out their rewards, they suspiciously confronted hindrances resulting from sure “issues” reported by this system. “The creators of the app tried to string their victims alongside for so long as doable in order that they might proceed watching movies and adverts, incomes cash not for themselves, however the fraudsters,” Dr. Internet mentioned.
In different phrases, the malicious actors threw customers off their scent by placing roadblocks within the redemption course of that deceptively appeared like non permanent errors. TubeBox customers might have spent hours watching movies considering that their efforts could be rewarded with actual money, however little did they know that they have been truly incomes cash for cybercriminals. Ouch!
When BleepingComputer checked to see if TubeBox was within the Google Play Retailer on Dec. 4, it was nonetheless there, however as of this writing, it was faraway from the Android app retailer.
Earlier than downloading any app, make sure that to pore over the critiques to see if something raises your antenna (be careful for pretend feedback, too). Remember to take a look at our finest cellular antivirus apps (opens in new tab) web page to guard your cellphone from the shadowy corners of the Google Play Retailer.
