Fake Android Anti-Virus Records Calls, Steals Info
By: Matt Liebowitz, MSNBC
Mobile anti-virus software is a great way to ensure the safety of your smartphone, especially now, when iPhones, Androids and BlackBerrys are used for much more than just making calls. But behind any good idea, there is a crook looking to make money, and that's exactly what has spurred smartphone scammers to spread a new Android fake anti-virus program.
The program advertises itself as "Android Security Suite Premium," but, as researchers from Precise Security explained, the security software is fake, and once launched it begins an onslaught against your phone and, potentially, your bank account.
The fake AV software, also called Android.FakeSecSuite, appears as a red, green, blue and yellow shield icon and drops a Trojan that steals incoming text messages and device information, shipping them off to a remote server. It is also capable of creating and sending texts, monitoring calls, opening network connections and tampering with the phones of those who download it.
