Fake Pokemon Go apps going viral

Mumbai: A malicious gaming app called
Pokemon Go Ultimate, the first lockscreen app has made its way onto
the Google Play store.

According to software security company
ESET, a malicious gaming app called Pokemon Go Ultimate, the first
lockscreen app has made its way onto the Google Play store. The app
when downloaded and run is not installed as Pokemon Go but as ‘PI
Network,’ a report published in the Fortune said.

Anyone who ran that app would find
their phone completely frozen, forcing them to restart the phone by
removing the battery. After rebooting, the PI Network app seemed to
disappear, but in fact continued running in the background and
generating fake ad clicks.

According to software security company ESET, a malicious gaming app called Pokemon Go Ultimate, the first lockscreen app has made its way onto the Google Play store. The app when downloaded and run is not installed as Pokemon Go but as ‘PI Network.

The Pokemon Go gaming app uses the
Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities of the device in
conjunction with Google Maps to place virtual creatures in real world
locations, which one then tries to find using your device as a guide.

Once in proximity to the placed
creature, one then needs to use device’s camera to view the
creature and try to capture it.

ESET also spotted several other
malicious apps, including Install Pokemongo and Guide & Cheats
for Pokemon Go.

The plague of malicious tricks
surrounding the augmented-reality game highlights the security risk
posed by Android’s relatively open app ecosystem.

Though the specific apps highlighted by
ESET seem to have been removed from Google Play Store, a search found
several apps named with variations on Install Pokemon Go.

The app, however, has been pulled off
from Google Play, ESET reported. One can uninstall the app manually
by going to their phone’s application manager.

The Pokemon Go is available on Google
Playstore and Apple’s App Store in the US, Japan and Australia,
Philippines, New Zealand, Britain and Germany and is coming soon to
India, Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Source: IANS