Android Users Get Scammed With In-App Antivirus Ads

[wraggster]

A new malware scheme has been discovered that pushes fake antivirus software to Android users via in-app advertising (http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/04/19/criminals-trick-android-users-with-in-app-ads-for-fake-antivirus-charge-to-remove-nonexistent-threats/). Once installed, the trojan informs the victims they need to pay up to remove threats on their device. The malware in question, detected as "Android.Fakealert.4.origin" by Russian security firm Doctor Web (http://www.drweb.com/), has been around since at least October 2012 according to the company (http://news.drweb.com/show/?i=3460&lng=en&c=5). While Android malware that masks itself as an antivirus for Google's platform is nothing new, and neither are ads in Android apps pushing malware, but putting the two together can certainly be effective. This is naturally a practice that Windows users are all too familiar with (http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/04/27/1759204/fake-antivirus-peddlers-outpacing-real-av-firms).

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/04/19/2351214/android-users-get-scammed-with-in-app-antivirus-ads