Cyber​​criminals Spread Trojans Disguised as Valorant Computer Games | Antivirus Software

Malware analysts have registered a campaign of cybercriminals targeting mobile device owners. Attackers post videos on YouTube report on a mobile version of the Valorant game and offer potential victims the opportunity to install the corresponding app. However, under the guise of the game, you get a Trojan horse that virus writers use to earn money by participating in affiliate programs.

The Valorant game is still under development and is only available as a beta test version for Windows computers. However, the fraudulent videos are structured in such a way that gaming appears plausible on the mobile device screen.

To add credibility, these videos are accompanied by a detailed description as well as plenty of comments from users who reportedly successfully installed the game on their mobile devices. All of these comments are fake.

In order to download the game, users will be asked to visit a website that looks like the official website of the Valorant project. There are two links to the website from which you supposedly can download the game to your mobile device. When a visitor tries to download the game from an iOS device, they will be redirected to the affiliate program website. When an attempt is made to download the game from an Android device, an apk file containing the Android trojan horse Android.FakeApp.176 will be downloaded to that device. Since this file is not downloaded from the Google Play Store, most modern devices require you to change the appropriate security settings to install them.

This defective app simulates the process of starting the game but then offers to "unlock" the game with a device identification. This requires the user to download and install two more apps.

If you agree to the "unblocking", the Trojan will open the website of the same partner program as on iOS devices in your web browser. After checking some parameters, this website redirects the user to the website of another affiliate program. This lists tasks that the visitor should complete in order to receive a reward. In this case, the user is obliged to install and start the game via Google Play and to take part in an online survey.

Such websites are typical services with which fraudsters can earn money through clicks, skewed visitor numbers, and installations, advertising for various software, online surveys, and other marketing campaigns on the Internet.

Some services give users promised rewards when, for example, a certain task is completed to recharge the game balance or to receive certain bonuses in the games. In the case of the Android.FakeApp.176 Trojan, however, users do not receive the game promised to them. The mobile version of Valorant does not yet exist, and the only function of the fake is to lure users to a website of the relevant affiliate program. This rewards the scammers at the expense of the victim.

This kind of illegal income from the use of malware, which is passed off as real games, has existed before. For example, the same version of Android.FakeApp.176under the guise of a mobile version of the recently released Call of Duty: Warzone game, which was only available on game consoles and Windows computers. In addition, scammers spread one of the modifications of the Trojan as Fortnite as early as 2018 and under the guise of Apex Legends in 2019. Both games quickly became popular with many gamers, and the virus writers wanted to take advantage of this quickly. Another novelty announced less than two months ago, has already attracted millions of fans, which could draw the attention of the scammers once again to the game.

Remember that the information disseminated on the Internet should be viewed critically, do not click on suspicious links or install questionable apps from unknown sources.

Protegent antivirus software products for Android can successfully detect and remove known modifications of the Android.FakeApp.176 trojan, so that this malware does not pose a threat to Protegent users.