A maliciously themed PDF reader is being criticized for gaining huge popularity recently. But Google Play Store users do not realize that it is just malware.
Interestingly, the app is very popular in terms of PDF readers. And now it serves as a potential vehicle or carrier for the most harmful adware out there today.
Experts are now launching a new warning in this regard. Meanwhile, the news comes to us thanks to a recent investigation carried out by Malwarebytes. They found that the PDF reader that is designed to read documents is nothing but fanciful, as it has zero performance for any of the described actions.
The app has been unable to do anything and has only filled users’ devices with unnecessary full-screen ads. And that’s the case when you’re not even using the app.
The firm was seen issuing a new warning about how the app has already got a million downloads and Google still hasn’t removed it from its Play Store. So it won’t surprise us to see more and more people getting hooked sooner.
Malwarebytes was kind enough to put out a full blog post on this. It clearly highlighted the entire scam and how the app can be used to trick users in various ways. The most common of all of them is not showing ads, right after installing it.
Instead, you will find the app waiting for a few hours. And that makes it even more difficult to notice which app caused the mega problem.
Upon activation, the app has the opportunity to fill the home screen with full-page ads. This way, everyone is blocked from accessing their own devices, unless they especially press that ad.
At the same time, you will also find video ads displayed effectively. And this means that users are unable to access their own phones as more ads are released frequently. So the more you don’t check the app, the more ads you see.
On the blog, there is a special mention of how the Google listing page for the particular app reported some red flags. And if you paid close attention, you probably noticed that this is not the most legitimate app out there today.
A banner was even added for mature audiences and yes, it is very rare to have a PDF reader app for Android that displays something like this. Another shady aspect had to do with the name of the developer. Who call themselves Fairy Games among all the names in the world?
As you can see, tracking malicious apps is not easy. But it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for the red flags, so if you spot something unusual, it’s best to stay away.
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