#163 New Fake App Discovered on Google Play

 Symantec’s Security Response team recently posted a blog highlighting the difficulties of keeping app stores free of malicious applications, including the Japanese one-click fraud scam that was discovered on Google Play in May 2013. This week, Symantec’s automated system flagged yet another example of a misleading app that was posted on the Google Play store.

The fake app, Next Launcher 3D Pro, claims to be a free version of a legitimate app, and uses a typical naming convention that is designed to mislead smartphone users. The developer of the genuine Next Launcher 3D app, which can also be found on the Google Play store, may suffer as a result of this scam, as consumers struggle to distinguish between the two applications.  According to the Security Response blog, a clear sign of trouble was the discovery that the two apps are from different publishers.

Read more about the fake app on the Security Response blog, where you’ll discover that users are presented with a screen asking them to view offers before receiving the app for free.

It’s recommended that Android users install a security app, such as Norton Mobile Security, which detects the application already as Android.Fakeapp.