Malicious cryptocurrency apps found on the Play Store?

[ProperFerret]

Since crypto apps are proliferating all over the place, is there any way to confirm that they are phishing-free? Many reports have confirmed that the Google playstore is very slow to take action against fake wallet-apps, to the great displeasure of those who use virtual coins...
Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

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[tabas]

Don't download an app that you don't have an idea if its legit or not. Look onto the reviews and if no review, then don't download it unless you see some reviews that you can trust with in other sites.

Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Why would it will? a lot of malicious apps are taking it over and not only in crypto circle.

[mcTether]

Since crypto apps are proliferating all over the place, is there any way to confirm that they are phishing-free? Many reports have confirmed that the Google playstore is very slow to take action against fake wallet-apps, to the great displeasure of those who use virtual coins...
Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Most of the malicious or phishing apps are the mining apps. My first advise is simple, never download any app that claims you can mine any bitcoin or satoshi or any other coins. Most of them end up accessing some private info about your device. Stay away from them. Also be mindful of some unpopular wallet apps too. You may loose your stored coins.

[ProperFerret]

Don't download an app that you don't have an idea if its legit or not. Look onto the reviews and if no review, then don't download it unless you see some reviews that you can trust with in other sites.

Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Why would it will? a lot of malicious apps are taking it over and not only in crypto circle.

Many of them have lots of downloads and reviews.
You can read it here: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/11/14/google-play-fake-cryptocurrency-wallets/
It seems to me that we might need commercial banks to get more involved and create wallet apps but then we miss the point of why crypto-currencies were created.

[freebutcaged]

You should know that every wallet has access to your funds if you don't control the private keys mate.
If you are using an app to store your coins you better to make sure they are not storing your private
Keys on their servers.

[Lizzylove1]

4 days ago, a military friend of mine funds all got stolen. A look a scan of his wallet via etherscan.io showed that the fund always left same minute after successfully receiving it. And the name of the application in play store is "ERC20 Tokens Wallet". I had advised him to download Imtoken from the store. He won't listen until the worst happened. Thank God I was able to detect it when he complained the fund he sent was yet to reach it destination. Now a check on that phishing app showed that it has some good reviews, but my conclusion is that the reviews are nothing but conspiracy. Try to make download directly from authors link or make reviews on YouTube or ask someone already using it. Let's avoid the worst case.

[libert19]

Check description, check reviews, check screenshots — don't enter any sensitive information and if it feels shady then it is (in most cases!).

[mk4]

The Google PlayStore sure does have a good number of malicious apps due to Google being less strict compared to Apple's App Store. When you're planning on downloading a certain Android wallet, I suggest going to the wallet's main website instead, then click on the PlayStore link from there. It just gives you more guarantee that you're actually viewing the correct app on Google PlayStore; or, you could download the official .apks on their site as an alternative.

The App Store and PlayStore links from the app's websites usually looks like this:

Taken from http://brd.com

[bolbau]

phishing crimes are actually the responsibility of every user, don't expect too much of a system to eradicate them. awareness of the use of a good and correct crypto wallet account is a form of prevention against phishing crime. never download applications that don't make sense, such as applications that offer free crypto coins in a short time, applications that clearly interest the private key or any form of access to your crypto account / wallet. except that the application was indeed developed by a related exchanger. but back again, everything is about the user's caution.

[texgeek]

Hello,

If you are talking about Google Play Store, ( i am android developer)

Recently google change the policy and make a request to All apps inside Google Play, forces application to run a device target api 26.

With this rule, its more hard to create malicious apps with permissions (on past, all permissions on installation time) on few minutes...

Now its extremelly hard to run services or create anything behind app without owner permission.

The date to change 01/Nov. Developers with apps using targetSDK lower than 26 , have a application removed from playstore.

https://developer.android.com/distribute/best-practices/develop/target-sdk
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/113469#targetsdk

[davis196]

Since crypto apps are proliferating all over the place, is there any way to confirm that they are phishing-free? Many reports have confirmed that the Google playstore is very slow to take action against fake wallet-apps, to the great displeasure of those who use virtual coins...
Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Can you be more specific?Don't just say "some crypto apps".Mention some apps that you have doubts about.
That's why Google Play has a review system.If some app is malicious,the users will leave negative reviews and I'm pretty sure that apps with a low review score just won't get many downloads.

[MainIbem]

A reliable wallet app will be marketed by the project which the app represent and there will be adequate authentication from where to download. Just going to the app store to look for a wallet is suicidal IMO.

[rindo]

Applications were going through crypto-coins portfolios for NEO, Tether and an extension to access Ethereum (ETH), MetaMask. They were designed to violate users' mobile bank credentials and credit card information. After the phishing application is installed and launched, it prompts you for the private password and password of the user's wallet.

False Crypto address wallets created a new wallet generating a public address and private key - which are required to securely send and receive digital currency - but they only displayed the public address of the attacker without user access to the private key. Thinking that the application generated the public address, users deposited their funds in this wallet, but could not withdraw them, because the private key belonged to a cybercriminals.

[bloodyvio]

i better use the wallet recommended by the coin site
even though other wallets provide lots of bounties or rewards when using their wallet
still it's not wise to entrust your assets to third parties

[bling-bling]

Unfortunately, Google does not screen or block malicious sites on the browser or apps on playstore. They are roaming all over the internet. It will always boil down to us becoming aware and vigilant of the signs that will point out these sites/apps. It seems that logging on the internet has become quite risky nowadays. So we should be all out careful.

[AimHigh]

Yes their are so many application like phishing and I've  encountered it because before I am finding an extra income I'm Google and youtube and their are so many application that giving a bitcoin just spin it but when my friend knows I am playing this application I found it this is fake because scam is not only in website but also in application and in everywhere  so we need to be careful always.

[Indamuck]

You have to be extremely careful when downloading a wallet, there are a lot of malicious people out there trying to steal funds.  Always triple check what your downloading and you can look up almost anything on this forum under the alternative clients section.  It's advised to use a separate device if you are downloading anything that may be sketchy.

[Biscutard]

It might be true because most of the application in the appstore are infected with some kind of virus or i don't know that does something to your phone. So, i think it's not really new here and also by looking at the reviews you already know if the app is safe or just a spam.

[mrcash02]

PlayStore is terrible to download this kind of app. The reviews are completely nonsense and irresponsible: you find a mining or faucet app, then you look the reviews and there are lots of 4-5 stars and when you look what they wrote you see things like: "testing, looks good", "wasn't paid yet, but I will give 5 stars for now"...

There is no way to really know if that app is legit or not. And in some cases they start legit and in the end scam the users and worse, steal their informations, with serious chances of invading cellphone's data. I reached to the conclusion it's better to not download any app on cellphones if you really care and want to preserve it for a long time.

Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Only people who aren't really interested in BTC and Crypto in general will let a negative app experience affect their confidence about it... Just don't download these stuff and you will be fine, use a browser, use popular legit sites and there won't be issues.

[libert19]

PlayStore is terrible to download this kind of app. The reviews are completely nonsense and irresponsible: you find a mining or faucet app, then you look the reviews and there are lots of 4-5 stars and when you look what they wrote you see things like: "testing, looks good", "wasn't paid yet, but I will give 5 stars for now"...

There is no way to really know if that app is legit or not. And in some cases they start legit and in the end scam the users and worse, steal their informations, with serious chances of invading cellphone's data. I reached to the conclusion it's better to not download any app on cellphones if you really care and want to preserve it for a long time.

Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Only people who aren't really interested in BTC and Crypto in general will let a negative app experience affect their confidence about it... Just don't download these stuff and you will be fine, use a browser, use popular legit sites and there won't be issues.

Those reviews are big flags, and that's why not just look at rating, read reviews too.

These devs give some extra 'coins' for giving 5 star reviews so that's how it works and you know when something is forced it doesn't look genuine.

[Pettuh4]

PlayStore is terrible to download this kind of app. The reviews are completely nonsense and irresponsible: you find a mining or faucet app, then you look the reviews and there are lots of 4-5 stars and when you look what they wrote you see things like: "testing, looks good", "wasn't paid yet, but I will give 5 stars for now"...

There is no way to really know if that app is legit or not. And in some cases they start legit and in the end scam the users and worse, steal their informations, with serious chances of invading cellphone's data. I reached to the conclusion it's better to not download any app on cellphones if you really care and want to preserve it for a long time.

Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Only people who aren't really interested in BTC and Crypto in general will let a negative app experience affect their confidence about it... Just don't download these stuff and you will be fine, use a browser, use popular legit sites and there won't be issues.

Those reviews are big flags, and that's why not just look at rating, read reviews too.

These devs give some extra 'coins' for giving 5 star reviews so that's how it works and you know when something is forced it doesn't look genuine.

Most of us don't like reading, we hurry through things and it's our negligence and carelessness that often lead many to download malicious stuffs from the play store.So long as an app is free you should at least try to read about it and know how to use it and what its prior users are saying before you download them.

[131tc01n]

Maybe this can reduce their trust in bitcoin and other crypto, but that's very little. In fact there are still many more secure and secure desktop and mobile wallets, they just don't trust wallet providers online rather than other bitcoin or crypto

[ProperFerret]

4 days ago, a military friend of mine funds all got stolen. A look a scan of his wallet via etherscan.io showed that the fund always left same minute after successfully receiving it. And the name of the application in play store is "ERC20 Tokens Wallet". I had advised him to download Imtoken from the store. He won't listen until the worst happened. Thank God I was able to detect it when he complained the fund he sent was yet to reach it destination. Now a check on that phishing app showed that it has some good reviews, but my conclusion is that the reviews are nothing but conspiracy. Try to make download directly from authors link or make reviews on YouTube or ask someone already using it. Let's avoid the worst case.

Seems like too much work and I am afraid that this may preclude others from wanting to use virtual currencies. If there are no regulations to prevent people from getting scammed, then crypto money won't last long despite the fact that many businesses are now accepting them.

[pavka]

4 days ago, a military friend of mine funds all got stolen. A look a scan of his wallet via etherscan.io showed that the fund always left same minute after successfully receiving it. And the name of the application in play store is "ERC20 Tokens Wallet". I had advised him to download Imtoken from the store. He won't listen until the worst happened. Thank God I was able to detect it when he complained the fund he sent was yet to reach it destination. Now a check on that phishing app showed that it has some good reviews, but my conclusion is that the reviews are nothing but conspiracy. Try to make download directly from authors link or make reviews on YouTube or ask someone already using it. Let's avoid the worst case.

Seems like too much work and I am afraid that this may preclude others from wanting to use virtual currencies. If there are no regulations to prevent people from getting scammed, then crypto money won't last long despite the fact that many businesses are now accepting them.

Let me disagree with you. A large number of pickpockets did not make people abandon the use of traditional money. If you find out that your friend, for example, has been robbed on a bus, you will be more careful in storing your wallet. Similarly, with cryptocurrency - you already know that downloading applications is not safe, then you can either abandon them, or carry out operations with Bitcoins and store virtual money on a separate computer.

[Matthewmorris4]

Since crypto apps are proliferating all over the place, is there any way to confirm that they are phishing-free? Many reports have confirmed that the Google playstore is very slow to take action against fake wallet-apps, to the great displeasure of those who use virtual coins...
Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

You should avoid apps-based wallets, these apps are often deceptive. to find out whether the wallet we use has apps or not, it's better to visit the official website. if they do not include any apps linked, it is better not to install the wallet from the playstore. Its 100% a scam apps. However wallet Android/iOS still risky from security

[ProperFerret]

PlayStore is terrible to download this kind of app. The reviews are completely nonsense and irresponsible: you find a mining or faucet app, then you look the reviews and there are lots of 4-5 stars and when you look what they wrote you see things like: "testing, looks good", "wasn't paid yet, but I will give 5 stars for now"...

There is no way to really know if that app is legit or not. And in some cases they start legit and in the end scam the users and worse, steal their informations, with serious chances of invading cellphone's data. I reached to the conclusion it's better to not download any app on cellphones if you really care and want to preserve it for a long time.

Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

Only people who aren't really interested in BTC and Crypto in general will let a negative app experience affect their confidence about it... Just don't download these stuff and you will be fine, use a browser, use popular legit sites and there won't be issues.

Those reviews are big flags, and that's why not just look at rating, read reviews too.

These devs give some extra 'coins' for giving 5 star reviews so that's how it works and you know when something is forced it doesn't look genuine.

Most of us don't like reading, we hurry through things and it's our negligence and carelessness that often lead many to download malicious stuffs from the play store.So long as an app is free you should at least try to read about it and know how to use it and what its prior users are saying before you download them.

I can't agree with you because Google should be able to properly vet those creating apps on their platform. People use their playstore because they know that the apps on there are supposed to be safe. Now that an increasing number of places take virtual coins, no one wants to have a wallet that would put them in an embarrassing situation, just because Google did not do its job (Isn't the company making enough money off our personal data to pay for that kind of screening?). And let's not forget the fake reviews that are a part of the scam, which makes it hard for regular folks to distinguish the good from the bad wallet apps.

[ProperFerret]

Since crypto apps are proliferating all over the place, is there any way to confirm that they are phishing-free? Many reports have confirmed that the Google playstore is very slow to take action against fake wallet-apps, to the great displeasure of those who use virtual coins...
Could this reduce the confidence in Bitcoin and other legit crypto-currencies?

You should avoid apps-based wallets, these apps are often deceptive. to find out whether the wallet we use has apps or not, it's better to visit the official website. if they do not include any apps linked, it is better not to install the wallet from the playstore. Its 100% a scam apps. However wallet Android/iOS still risky from security

Seems like a lot of hurdles for users, don't you think?

[mensahkkofie]

Google inc should be blamed for the huge number of phishing or malicious android apps on the google playstore. I believe the speed at which they tackle serious issues that can harm customers should be augmented. Many software developers are taking this weakness to scam people in the name of cryptocurrencies

[bettercrypto]

Hackers are always thinking of innovative ways of how to steal your coins. They are very up to date and one step ahead of us. Always take the  necessary cautions in downloading apps by performing due diligence. Also, consider storing your coins in a safe place such as cold storage ann/or harware wallets.

[libert19]

Don't be fooled by 5 star ratings, and always check reviews, there are many sane souls who would write reviews to alert others.