Microsoft Discover Android Malware Seeking to Defraud Users
- A team of researchers at Microsoft has raised an alarm over a dangerous Android virus in Google Play Store
- The team said the virus, known as toll fraud, hides in apps and aims at stealing users billion information
- According to them, the virus updates itself automatically by upgrading to premium and unknowingly charges the user
Microsoft researchers have alerted Android users of a virus known as ‘toll fraud’ which hides as usual apps on the Google Play Store and empties the wallet of users immediately after it is installed.
The tech company describes the virus as a category of billing trick in which hostile app buy users to top services without their authorisation.
Source: Getty Images
Forces users to connect to mobile data despite presence of Wi-fi
Reports from Mashable say that this kind of virus, the company said, is one of the main dominant variant of Android virus and it goes on to mutate.
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In comparison to other categories of charging trick, including text messgae fraud and voice call trick, toll fraud has special behaviours. While text message fraud or call fraud make use of a simple attack flow to send or calls to a premium number, toll fraud has a complicated multi-layer attack flow that developers continue to improve.
According to a Nairametrics report, Microsoft said that its team of researchers saw new capabilities related to how the threat targets users of specific network operators, performing its routines only if the new device is subscribed to any of its target network operators.
According to Microsoft, the virus also, by default, uses phone connections for its activities and compels devices to connect to mobile data even if a Wi-fi connection is available.
Sources of toll fraud
It starts when a user downloads an app the virus hides as in the Google Play Store.
The hostile apps will almost be listed in popular categories in the app store as personalization like wallpaper, lock screen apps, communication, chat apps, and fake antivirus apps, among others
The company stated that toll fraud is one of the most common virus categories with high financial loss as its major impact.
Protecting yourself against the malware
The researchers stated that users should avoid downloading apps from untrusted sources and follow up with device updates.
NCC warns against TangleBot malware targeting Android phones, bank apps
Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has raised the alarm over a new malware called TangleBot disguised as SMS which targets Android phones.
According to a message on the NCC website issued by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Ikechukwu Adinde, on Saturday, January 29, 2022.
Adinde said that TangleBot, as the name of the latest virus is known, has almost the same tactics as the newly-announced infamous FlutBot Android malware which targets mobile devices, saying that it also takes control of the user’s device in a greater more permeating than the FlutBot malware.
Source: Legit.ng
