<h3>How to Spot Fake and Fraudulent Android Apps 2020:</h3>

<p>In general, downloading apps from Google Play store are considered safe and secure. However, many recent examples have proven otherwise. Fraudsters now-a-days create apps which looks identical to popular apps, often by using the same name and icon design. They trick users into downloading fake apps, for nefarious purposes. For example to commit advertisement fraud, to monitor browsing and other activities, to steal sensitive personal information or even worse. </p>

<p>The problem has risen in recent times. And therefore, Google has been removing such malicious apps from Play Store, for violating its Terms and Conditions. An astonishing 7,00,000 apps have been removed from Store so far! An example is a fake version of WhatsApp that was downloaded by more than one million people, before it was taken off from Play Store.  </p>

<p><strong>How to Spot these Fake Android Apps:</strong><br>
Given the number of malicious apps making it’s way into the Google Play Store, it has started Google Play Protect – a new security system to verify apps in the Play Store. It scans apps upon entry into Google Play Store, to weed out fake and malicious ones. </p>

<p>However, as mentioned before, some fake malicious apps are still making way into the Play Store. In fact, regardless of how perfect the Play Protect system becomes, a small percentage of malicious apps, will still find their way into the Store. Therefore, you must pay attention to apps you are installing. </p>

<p>Here are some of the steps that a user can undertake to spot fake Android apps. </p>

<p><strong>Search Results Analysis:</strong><br>
When you search the Play Store for the app you want to install, take a few seconds to glance at all the entries — especially if you see the same icon or name more than once. As common logic would suggest, that in such cases, one would be the genuine app and others are likely to be the copycat. </p>

<p>Therefore, finding multiple apps with same name or icon is the biggest flag. This is because, fake fraudulent apps always use same or similar icon to the app they are trying to mimic. The second app may disguise itself as pro version of the earlier app, to fool people into installing them onto their devices.  </p>

<p>In nutshell, finding multiple similar names/ icon should immediately arise suspicion in your mind. Subsequently, you should proceed with caution. If the icons are same or similar, turn to their names, to find the genuine one. </p>

<p><strong>Check App Name and the Developer Details:</strong><br>
In case of any confusion, take a closer look at the app name and the developer details. In case of aforesaid mentioned fake WhatsApp app, the developer name was visually identical, but the name of the app had the word “Update” which should have raised a red flag.  </p>

<p>If the app name or icons are same, developer details can prove handy. Play Store provides an option to check out other apps from a particular developer. The process includes - clicking on the developer name in the Play Store listing, and then scroll down to almost bottom to see more apps from the same developer. </p>

<p><strong>Check the Number of Downloads:</strong><br>
You should take a quick look at the number of downloads of app in question. The more popular the app is, more this step would helps to weed out fake ones. </p>

<p>Let’s assume you are trying to install Twitter app – one of the most downloaded app in the history of Google Play Store. Now suppose, the Twitter app you are looking at has only 1000 downloads. Clearly, it would mean fake fraudulent app – an app with similar name but too recently uploaded on Play Store. In fact, fake apps don’t last longer, and hence they never amass lot many downloads. Therefore, it’s an easy way to spot fake apps. </p>

<p>The process may not be that helpful, if the app you are looking to download is not that popular. However, as a thumb rule, the genuine app will always have more downloads than the app that is imitating the genuine one. Hence, always pay attention to the number of downloads.  </p>

<p><strong>Read the Description and Look at the Screenshots:</strong><br>
If the above parameters are close enough, and you are unable to distinguish between legitimate and fake one, move onto description and screenshots of the app. Red flags here include grammatical and punctuation errors, or lines that may not even make sense. Legitimate apps always have clear and error free description. It would aptly describe the functionality as well as usage of the app. Therefore, if something appears fishy to you, it probably is! </p>

<p>The same holds true for images as well. In most cases, it would be stolen right away from the legitimate app, but why to take chances. Have a look at the photos too! Any divergence would further help cull out the truth. </p>

<p><strong>Read the Reviews:</strong><br>
You should also spend some time, reading the reviews of suspected apps. Focus on negative reviews and what the issues are. If the app is fake, there is every possibility that unsuspecting users who downloaded it, will find it out and mention the same – “fake / bogus / fraudulent / copycat / impersonating” etc in the reviews. </p>

<p>Any review calling the app to be fake or fraudulent should be considered seriously. Genuine apps do have negative reviews, but comments like fake will not be there. Therefore, red flag here, coupled with other similar flags should prevent you from downloading the app. </p>

<p><strong>What to do if you Spot a Fake App?</strong><br>
If you spot a fake Android app, just not installing it isn’t enough. You must also report to Google that it’s a fake app, to prevent other users from getting victimized. The steps include:</p>

<ul>
 <li><strong>Step 1: </strong>Scroll to the bottom of the page on your mobile device. </li>
 <li><strong>Step 2: </strong>Tap on “Flag as Inappropriate”</li>
 <li><strong>Step 3: </strong>Choose the reason for reporting the app. In case of fake app, select “Copycat or Impersonation” option </li>
 <li><strong>Step 4: </strong>Tap “Submit” to complete the process. </li>
</ul>

<p>You can hope for the best that Google shall review it and take the fake app off the Play Store. However, tech giant like Google, might be receiving millions of such reviews on daily basis – some genuine some hoax. </p>

<p>Therefore, if possible you should go that extra mile. Share this information on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. This will create requisite awareness, and as more and more people will report the app as impersonating, Google will react faster. </p>

<p><strong>Other Threats:</strong><br>
There are other ways for fake apps to make their way into your Android device. It includes cyber criminals tricking you into installing a compromised app from third party sources, outside Google Play Store. For example, criminals may impersonate bank manager, credit card company etc and ask you to download bank related fake application. Similarly, some fake app may pose as security updates, and clicking on the link may compromise your information. </p>

<p>Therefore, if you receive an unsolicited SMS, alert, notification or email don’t pay heed to them. Simply choose to ignore them. Take special precaution not to click on any link sent by strangers or that you were not expecting. If you receive a prompt to install an urgent security update, do some research online to find out more information about it. If there are multiple discussions online about that specific security update, then it’s probably genuine. </p>

<p>Other red flags of false messages/ alerts include spelling and punctuation errors, shoddy logos and poorly formatted interfaces. Finally, make sure you don’t allow app downloads from third party sites. </p>

<p><strong>Conclusion:</strong><br>
Prevention is better than cure and therefore taking due precautions is worth it. Finally, even after doing complete research, if you still aren’t sure about the genuineness of the app, then just don’t install it. After all, you always want to be sure in cyber security world, isn’t it? A single mistake in virtual world, is all it takes to potentially inflict catastrophic damage.</p>
