Fake GTA Vice City Android game contains links to SMS Trojan
September 11, 2012 by Network Security
Filed under Android
Providing fake packages of popular games have always been a well-liked strategy of viruses peddlers around the world.
GFI has lately identified a fake Vice Town edition of Grand Theft Auto being provided on a third-party site that lures customers into installing a malware disguised as a Flash upgrade.
Once the affected users complete the download, set up and run the fake app, they have to face a big button they have to touch in order to start the game. But tapping it just makes another message appear, saying ““Flash Player is required” and offering a download weblink.
The fake Flash update tries to obtain a lot of permissions that the real one wouldn’t ask for:
That’s because the upgrade is actually a version of the Boxer SMS Computer virus, which will begin delivering out sms to high price numbers as soon as it is set up.
“The only games Rockstar have released on the official Google Play site are versions of GTA 3 and the original Max Payne. There is no version of Vice City currently available from the publishers, much less a version authored by someone called ‘Vickie’ sitting on a Russian language download site registered to someone in China,” Chris Boyd from GFI points out what should be clear to anyone.
Again, customers are recommended to limit their downloads from official websites, and to always seriously check things such as the name of the creator, feedback from customers, and authorizations needed by the app before installing it.
