Social media has been flooded with pictures of people making themselves look aged with the help of cloud-processed filters on the now infamous mobile application otherwise called FaceApp. While slight controversy had already sparked over the app’s privacy concerns, all the unwarranted popularity has opened doors for malicious hackers who are now responsible for creating fake versions of FaceApp that pose an even greater risk to the users’ phone data and security in general.
Earlier today, security firm Kaspersky warned mobile users world over to be wary of the fake version of FaceApp that has been found to load malware onto mobile devices. The team’s official statement said they have identified a fake app that is designed to trick users into mistakenly thinking it is a certified version of FaceApp.
Once downloaded from unauthentic sources and installed, it infects the user’s device with an adware module known as MobiDash, which stimulates a failure before subsequently removing itself. Following this, the module rests discreetly in the app on the victim’s mobile device, displaying advertisements constantly. According to Kaspersky’s data, approximately 500 unique individuals have encountered the same issue in the last 48 hours. The first reports of a fake app started pouring in on July 7, with roughly 800 different modifications of the module being identified almost instantly.
Those responsible for MobiDash typically hide their adware module under the guise of the most popular apps or services. This means the activities of the fake version of FaceApp would multiply in the coming days, especially if we are talking in terms of hundreds of users in a couple of days. Igor Golovin, a security researcher at Kaspersky urged users in his statement not to download apps from unverified sources and to install security solutions on their mobile phones to avoid any further damage.
