With news of the upcoming release of Fortnite for Android users, scammers and hackers have taken the opportunity to release fake apps all which claim they are ‘early releases’ of the upcoming release.
Videos on YouTube with links to scam versions of the popular game have been viewed millions of times, according to security experts.
None of the fake apps has made it on to the Google Play Store, but they are easy to find on search engines.
According to one security firm, the apps look legitimate.
Most of the fake Fortnite apps redirects users to a browser asking them to download a number of other apps in order to play the game.
The scammers are paid each time someone downloads an app from the website.
Mr Collier of Malwarebytes said: “The bad news is that no matter how many apps you download, the game never unlocks, because it never existed within the malicious app in the first place.
“Our advice: Be patient. If you wait for the official release by Epic Games in the Google Play Store this summer, you won’t have to spend the ensuing months cleaning malware off your Android.”
Original article https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44561829
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