Perpetrators have gone out of their way by exhibiting a trojan in the form of the popular game, Valorant. The Valorant game, which had its beta-version halted some days ago, garnered three million users every day. This number portrays a positive acceptance from the gaming- populace.
The acts are strategically put in place to lure a fan into downloading the corrupt APK file completely.
The techniques involve uploading instructive videos on Youtube, which direct the users to go about the downloads. There is also the inclusion of testimonials from supposed gamers. This adds strength to the deceit and removes any doubts an unsuspecting user might have.
Convincing takes a great deal. Therefore the criminals took it a notch further by dropping a thorough rundown of the gaming plot.
Despite everything, the hideous activities don’t just end there; these perpetrators go as far as redirecting users to install malicious apps organized to increase their wallets.
The discovery of this scheme was uncovered by researchers at Doctor Web who have been monitoring the activities of the game which is yet to be released. They also report that this isn’t the first of its kind as a similar trojan case with case file Andriod.FakeApp.176 was used as a mimic for games like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legend.
About the act, the researchers stated in their blog post;”such websites represent typical services that help clients earn money through affiliate clicks; artificial increases in the number of website visitors, monetization through the software advertising and pay-per-install schemes; to increase software popularity and number of installations, as well as monetizing online surveys and other online marketing campaigns on the Internet.”
The researchers implore gamers to be vigilant and verify claims about a game’s existence from the company’s official website. They also suggest that for those who might have fallen victim to these acts, they should immediately delete the app and install an antivirus that will rid the phone of any residual trojan
