Fake Crypto Mining Applications on Google Play

Notice: This page is a freshly imported case study from the original repository. The original content was in a different format, and may not have relevant information for all sections. Please help restructure the content by moving information from the 'About' and 'General Prevention' sections to other sections, and add any missing information or sources you can find. If you are new here, please read General Tutorial on Wikis or Anatomy of a Case Study for help getting started.

Notice: This page contains sources which are not attributed to any text. The unattributed sources follow the initial description. Please assist by visiting each source, reviewing the content, and placing that reference next to any text it can be used to support. Feel free to add any information that you come across which isn't present already. Sources which don't contain any relevant information can be removed. Broken links can be replaced with versions from the Internet Archive. See General Tutorial on Wikis, Anatomy of a Case Study, and/or Citing Your Sources Guide for additional information. Thanks for your help!

Hundreds of applications on the Google Play store claim to mine cryptocurrency, and in fact don't do any such function. Over 93,000 people downloaded these applications and believed they were accumulating cryptocurrency, some even purchasing upgrades to the application to improve their position.

In total, customers paid at least $350,000 to download these applications and didn't receive any cryptocurrency.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About None

"172 bogus Android applications [were] meant to be used for digital assets mining." "The applications were categorized into two distinct Android app divisions – BitScam and CloudScam. The bad actors allegedly designed them to target people interested in cryptocurrencies." "BitScam and CloudScam advertised crypto mining operations for a fee to the clients." "BitScam (83,800 installs) and CloudScam (9,600 installs), were advertised by the cybercriminals to victims as providing cloud cryptocurrency mining services." "What makes BitScam different is that its apps also accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as payment options."

BitScam names included Airdrop, BeMine, Bit Butter, Bit Mine, Bitco Mining, Bitcoin Blast, Bitcoin Blast Pro, Bitcoin Burn, Bitcoin Cloud, Bitcoin Doubler, Bitcoin Earn, Bitcoin Galaxy, Bitcoin Hasher, Bitcoin Machine, Bitcoin Matrix, Bitcoin Miner, Bitcoin Mining, Bitcoin Pro, Bitcoin Servers, Bitcoin Tunnel, BITCOIN WORLD, BitcoinCash Miner, BITGRAM, BitHash, Bitmining pro, Bitnex Miner, Bito Hash, Bito Holic, Bito Mamba, Bito Star, Bittorrent Earn, Black Bitcoin, Black BTC, Black Crypto, Black ETH, Black Ethereum, Bright Miner, BTC, BTC CLOUD MINING, BTC Doubler, BTC Hash, BTC HASH BLAST, BTC Machine, BTC Master, BTC MINE, BTC Miner, BTC POOL, BTC SERVERS, Btcminer pro, Btcminer prom, Cloud BTC, CLOUD COIN MINING, CLOUD ETH, Bloudy BTC, COIN MASTER, coinx, Crypto Cloud, crypto cloud mining pro, Crypto King, Crypto Money Inc, CryptoPlace, Dark Bitcoin, Doge Miner, Earn BTC, Earn Interest, Ethereum Cloud, Ethereum Machine, Ethereum Pool, EtherMine, ETHMINER PRO, FOX BTC, Free Doge, FOX BTC, GOLDEN ETHEREUM, Grand BTC, Hash Bit, HashCoin, HashFarm, HashFarm Pro, HashMine, HashStar, HashStar Bit, HONEY BEE MINER, Lite Miner, Litecoin Miner, Midcoin Cyripto Mining, Mining Pool, Moon Bat, Moon BTC, Mr Bitcoin, Multi Coins, Pink BTC, ProBitco, Ravencoin, Ripple Miner (XRP), Smart Coins, Star BTC, Top Coins, USD MINER, VirtualCPU, XMR Miner, and YFI Miner.

CloudScam names included Bito Miner, BTC Cash, BTC CLOUD, Cloud Mining, Crypto Pro Miner, Mining Machine, and My Application.

"[T]hose applications displayed minimum account balances to delude the users. Ioannis Gasparis – Lookout mobile app security researcher noted:"

“These apps were able to fly under the radar because they don’t actually do anything malicious. They are simply shells set up to attract users caught up in the cryptocurrency craze and collect money for services that don’t exist.”

"However, the apps did not provide the aforementioned services and pocketed the victim’s money." "Instead, the scammers filled up their wallets by selling the fake apps without actually providing any of the advertised services."

"Targets were lured into spending even more money on the apps using the promise of additional services and app upgrades, purchasable via cryptocurrency transfers straight to the scammers' crypto wallets or via the Play Store."

"Both CloudScam and BitScam also offer subscriptions and services related to crypto mining that users can pay for via the Google Play in-app billing system," Lookout explains.

"Scammers tricked at least 93,000 people into buying fake Android cryptocurrency mining applications." "[T]he apps turned out to scam at least 93,000 victims and embezzled some $350,000 from them." "The scammers used the fake Android apps to steal a total of over $350,000 ($300K in app sales and $50K in fake upgrades) from thousands of victims worldwide who bought the apps and paid for additional services and non-existent upgrades."

"Lookout revealed that 25 out of the 172 fake apps were available for download on Google Play." "Twenty-five of these fake apps were available in the Google Play Store, while those sold on third-party app stores could be side-loaded by victims on their Android devices."

"Subsequently, the cybersecurity firm launched a combined initiative with Google and removed the applications from the platform. Still, the cybersecurity firm warned that hundreds of them are available for download on third-party app stores." "Even though Google has already removed all the fake BitScam and CloudScam cryptomining apps found on the Play Store apps, Lookout says that dozens of them are still up for sale on third-party app stores around the web."

"A list of all BitScam and CloudScam apps, indicators of compromise (IOCs), additional technical details, and info on the number of Play Store installs per app are available in the Lookout report."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Fake Crypto Mining Applications on Google Play

Date	Event	Description
July 7th, 2021 7:44:00 AM MDT	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $350,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

General Prevention Policies

These fraudulent applications depend entirely on users who don't understand cryptocurrency. Users of cryptocurrency should take the time to educate themselves on the use of blockchain explorers, or discuss any software used with others who are more knowledgeable.

The vast majority of funds taken in this case would be traceable. The average loss per user is under $4. It makes more sense to pursue the fraudsters, remove the apps, and directly compensate those willing to prove they were affected given the small amount lost.

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.