Forbes StaffPig butchering is a type of investment fraud where victims are shown fabricated profits and asked to invest more and more money.
There are tons of fake and fraudulent apps on the Google Play Store and Apple Play Store that do the rounds every year. But the latest ones to join the frenzy are fraudulent trading apps that have been luring people to a “pig butchering” scheme, where they are shown fabricated profits and asked to invest more money.
Increase in the number of fraudulent apps on Google Play Store and Apple Play Store.
Recently, there has been an overflow of fraudulent apps on Google Play Store and Apple Play Store, which has made thousands of people victims in the pig butchering scheme. Scammers use social engineering techniques to prevent users from withdrawing their pseudo-profit and encourage them to keep investing more and more money. As per a recent report on BleepingComputer citing cybersecurity firm Group-IB, these fake trading apps that belong to the “UniShadowTrade” family of malware were first spotted in May 2024. They are built using the UniApp framework.
Fake trading apps capable of impersonating legitimate cryptocurrency.
Some of the most popular fake apps that have lured unsuspected users include Finans Insights (Android), Finans Trader6 (Android) and SBI-INT (iOS). The cybersecurity group also said these fake trading apps impersonate legitimate cryptocurrency and trading platforms. The report says that some apps even hid as tools for financial news feed aggregators” on Android and “algebraic mathematical formulas and 3D graphic volume area calculations” on iOS.
Once users install these apps, they are redirected to fake trading platforms that can only be used through invitation codes. Some scammers also engage users in conversations over dating apps to gain more trust. Thousands of people download these apps; however, they are now removed from the official Android and iOS app stores.
