Fake WhatsApp Downloaded Over a Million Times from Google Play Store

Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 06-11-2017

Google Play store users have been urged to check the version of WhatsApp they download after reports of multiple fake versions of the social media app have made their way into the store.

Fortune reports the latest fake version was so well disguised that it was downloaded over 1 million times by users.

It says the fake version of WhatsApp contains a “bundle of ads”, and was nearly indistinguishable from the genuine app thanks to an invisible space at the end of the developer’s name.

According to Fortune, there were at least seven fake versions of WhatsApp on the Google Play Store, which use variations of the developer’s name, stated the report.

“All of them have four-star review averages, presumably thanks to industrial-scale subversion of Play’s review system.”

This is the latest in a long string of incidents in which Google has shown little seriousness in attempting to protect Google Play users.

In prior incidents, security experts or unlucky users have encountered malware in compromised messaging apps, in a line of popular children’s games, and even in fake versions of Pokemon Go.

Twitter: @FaizelPatel143

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