Fake antivirus programs continue to plague mobile app stores

Fake antivirus programs are increasingly appearing in mobile app stores. Kaspersky Lab recently found two such programs imitating the company’s products in two different official app stores for mobile devices. The first fake app was discovered in Windows Phone Store. This in itself was unusual because scammers tend to target users of Android due to the platform’s popularity. The app in question went by the name of Kaspersky Mobile. 

Last month Google offered refunds to users who bought a fake antivirus app from Google Play, but the scam seems to be catching on. Security researchers have recently identified similar apps in both the Android and Windows Phone app stores. Malware analysts from Kaspersky Lab found a fake app called Kaspersky Mobile in the Windows Phone Store, which is unusual because cybercriminals tend to target Google Play and because Kaspersky doesn’t even make an antivirus product for Windows Phone. The fake app, which was available for 149 rubles or around $4, used Kaspersky’s logo and other branding elements and even pretended to scan files when run, said Roman Unuchek, senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab in a blog post Thursday.