Security News > 2023 > February > Crypto scam apps infiltrate Apple App Store and Google Play

Operators of high-yielding investment scams known as "Pig butchering" have found a way to bypass the defenses in Google Play and Apple's App Store, the official repositories for Android and iOS apps.

After gaining the victims' trust, the scammers say that they have an uncle working for a financial analysis firm and launch an invitation to trade cryptocurrency via an app on Play Store or App Store.

The malicious apps used in the campaign that Sophos observed are named "Ace Pro" and "MBM BitScan" on the Apple App Store and "BitScan" on Play Store.

For infiltrating the App Store, the ShaZhuPan gang submits an app signed with a valid certificate issued by Apple, a requirement for getting any code to be accepted into the iOS repository.

Because these apps are only downloaded by a small number of targeted users, they're not massively reported for fraud, making it hard for app store security reviewers to identify them as fraudulent and remove them.

Sophos also points out that the emergence of "FinTech" has normalized people's trust in these software tools and when the apps are sourced from official Apple and Google stores, the sense of legitimacy is high.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/crypto-scam-apps-infiltrate-apple-app-store-and-google-play/