After the Apple App Store and Google Play Store were used to distribute all kinds of malware to users' phones, it seems that now it's time for Microsoft's Windows Phone Store to be abused.
While Apple and Google's stores have been used to push quite a few dangerous malware, Microsoft's store appears to be affected by a much less critical issue, allowing developers to upload fake apps that only flood users with adware.
According to Avast, Windows Phone users are at risk of being tricked into installing fake apps found in new release packages of legitimate apps, redesigned to display ads and redirect users to purchase or download specific products.
58 of these types of (fake) apps were uploaded to the Windows Phone Store and the culprits are two developers: Ngetich Walter and Cheruiyot Dennis.
Some of the fake apps uploaded by these two developers mimic successful apps such as those from CNN, Avast, Facebook, BBC, Bet365, and WhatsApp.
As you can see from the images below, the apps come with a "real", fully functional UI, but after a certain amount of time, the user is presented with an interstitial ad that covers their entire screen.
If this ad is clicked, the user is redirected to a page and then asked to download or install various other applications. In some cases, this redirection occurs automatically, without the user doing anything.
The two developers behind this campaign make money from various other advertising campaigns, which reward developers who get other people to click on ads or install apps from a list of sponsored apps.
“For some reason, no one takes the time to report a bad app, even if it’s clear it’s fake and the majority of user reviews are extremely negative,” says Avast’s Filip Chytry.
Softpedia has checked the Windows Phone Store and although it hasn't seen any apps from Ngetich Walter, it was able to find 20 apps from Cheruiyot Dennis that are still available.
