NEO Fake Android Wallet

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NEO

A fake NEO wallet was discovered on the Google Play store with thousands of installs. The wallet would provide all users with the same wallet address, which was owned by the attacker. This was displayed as a deposit address, with withdrawals not possible. At least 16 NEO was taken from unsuspecting users, though it's possible more was taken. There is no report of any funds being recovered.

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

About NEO

"Neo was founded 2014 and has grown into a first-class smart contract platform." "Neo is an open-source community driven blockchain platform." "It is the most feature-complete blockchain platform for building decentralized applications. Neo enables developers to digitize and automate the management of assets through smart contracts. It also provides powerful native infrastructures such as decentralized storage, oracles, and domain name service, creating a solid foundation for the Next-Gen Internet."

"Back in November 2018, malware researcher Lukas Stefanko found four fake crypto wallets on the Google Play Store that were posing as official pieces of software for neo, tether and metamask."

"[T]hese fake wallets were created using Drag-n-Drop app builder service without any coding knowledge required."

"Stefanko noted that the apps were developed using the Drag-n-Drop app builder service, which does not require specific coding knowledge from the user. This means that nearly anyone is able to “develop” a simple malicious app to steal sensitive personal data, “once the Bitcoin (BTC) price rises,” according to Stefanko."

"[T]he fake NEO app dubbed “Neo Wallet”, which had over 1,000 installs since its launch in October."

"Android PlayStore (from user POV) only allows to order reviews "highest first" but not "lowest first", and it's not possible to filter e.g. "only 1 star reviews"."

"In short, a scam app that actively manipulates reviews makes it [difficult] for the user to learn it's a scam."

"The fake crypto wallets reportedly did not create a new wallet through generating a public address and a private key — which are needed to securely send and receive digital currency — but only displayed the attacker’s public address with no user access to the private key. Thinking that the app generated their public address, users would deposit their funds to that wallet, but were unable to withdraw them as the private key belonged to a cybercriminal."

"Fake cryptocurrency wallets do not create new wallet by generating public address and private key. These malicious apps only display attacker’s public address without user’s access to private key. Private key is owned by the bad guy. Once the fake app is launched, user thinks that app already generated his public address where user can deposit his cryptocurrency. If user send his funds to this wallet, he is not able to withdraw them because, he doesn’t own private key. For this purpose, I created two different accounts, however in both of them app assign me the same public address, including the QR code."

"The analyst states in the post that he reported the fake apps to the Google security team, after which the wallets were subsequently removed."

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 - NEO Fake Android Wallet

Date	Event	Description
November 8th, 2018	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 is unknown.

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

Always download wallets from the official source if possible. Typically, their primary website will direct you to the correct application. Check for recent negative reviews that report an application being a scam in the recent reviews history. Check to ensure an application has been available for an expected amount of time, and has a reasonable number of downloads. Once a wallet is set up, for any new wallet, always make a test transaction with a small amount of funds and a test withdrawal before using the wallet. Keep the majority of funds stored offline and only use mobile or PC-based wallets for funds you are actively using.

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.