'Fake App' Gives Nightmares to Pirated App Lovers

What you’re about to read might well remind you of a prior experience. For others, it’s about time that they ditch their love for pirated apps.

Snappy!

Many pirated app lovers were in for a rude shock when a snappy pop-up that seemed to come out of nowhere, filled their screen. This happened when they were just about to download that uber cool app, without paying for it. Without further ado, let me introduce you to this mischief maker, called Android.Walkinwat.

This bizarrely named app - yes, an app - makes its way into your system as a free version of a legitimate app – Walk and text. Till then, all’s hunky dory. Once inside, this ‘fake app’ displays a dialog box which reads something like – ‘Application Not licensed – We really hope you learned something from this. Check your phone bill *winks* Oh and don’t forget to buy the app from the market’. This message is followed by an option to either ‘Buy the App’ or ‘Exit’. This message potentially scares the user, who till then presumed that the app was for free! Amidst all the drama, the app, very stealthily gathers all relevant data like the username, phone number, and unique device identifier.

If that wasn’t scary enough, the Trojan decides to put the user through some public embarrassment. It sends out a text message, complete with erroneous words to all the contacts of the user. The message reads – “Hey, just downloaded a pirated App off the Internet, Walk and Text for Android. Im stupid and cheap, it costed only 1 buck. Don't steal like I did!”