What!? Fake WhatsApp app downloaded more than one million times

WhatsApp, is one of the smart android or iOS smartphone applications that may be quite widely used as a medium of communication in messages or voice and even video. Lots of smartphone users who take advantage of this application, and this is certainly a gap that can be infiltrated by cybercrime perpetrators.

From BBC - A fake version of the WhatsApp messenger app was downloaded more than a million times from the Google Play Store before it was removed. The app, named "Update WhatsApp Messenger", appeared to have been developed by the firm behind the real program - WhatsApp Inc.

According to users on web forum Reddit, the fake contained ads and could download software to users' devices. It has now been removed from the Play Store. Whoever was behind the app managed to make it look as though its developer was "WhatsApp Inc".

They did this by using that exact name, though replacing the space with a special character that looks like a space. The subtle difference would have been practically undetectable to the average user. Users receiving automatic updates via the real WhatsApp would not have been affected.

It is far from the first time that Google has had to clean up fake malicious apps on the Play Store. In 2015, the firm had to step in and block one program that disguised itself as a battery monitor and sent premium-rate text messages from people's phones.

Therefore, be more careful when you want to download an application, even from the official application download place though. If necessary, ask more experts to avoid a greater risk.

Source: BBC