If any of these apps are on your iOS, iPadOS, or Android devices, remove them now
Dangerous fake trading apps have been discovered in the App Store for iOS and the Google Play Store for Android users. These apps are being used to run a scam known as "pig butchering" and have already been removed from their respective app storefronts but not before they were installed several thousand times. The latest scam was discovered by cybersecurity company Group-IB.
Pig butchering is a scam that convinces users that they are generating high returns on their investments using a fake trading platform that shows made-up information such as bogus returns. Social engineering is used to trick victims into sending more money to the scammers while manipulating them so they don't demand the fake profits the app shows that they have accrued.
Fake trading platforms created to steal money from investors. | Image credit-group-IB
The scam is finally revealed to the victims when they try to cash their money which has already been deposited in the scammers' own bank accounts. Group-IB says that the fake apps are in the "UniShadowTrade" malware category and were first seen in May. The names of the apps include:
- SBI-INT (iOS)
- Finans Insights (Android)
- Finans Trader6 (Android)
The two Android apps have been downloaded more than 5,000 times. But even scarier, Group-IB says that the UniShadow Trade apps can pretend to be legitimate cryptocurrency and trading apps which can result in victims sending money to what they thought was a legitimate trading, crypto, or investment platform only to find out that the funds they sent to open an account are being collected by the scammers who end up depositing the money in their own accounts.
Even though the apps have been removed from the App Store and Play Store, if you installed them on your device, they are still there. If you do have any of these apps on your phone or tablet, uninstall them immediately.
Fake trading terminal which is part of a bogus trading app. | Image credit-group-IB
Since part of the scam uses social engineering to trick victims into sending the initial funding, the bogus investment returns are used along with other manipulations to get victims to send additional money to the fake platform. This is done quickly before the victim discovers he has been ripped off. As a result, the amount of money scammed from each person is often more than their initial deposit. Pig butchering scams have been spotted in Asia-Pacific, European, and Middle East and Africa regions.
If you do trade securities online, make sure to trade with a legitimate platform. Check to see if the business has a physical address and is registered to trade stocks, options, futures, and foreign exchange. Do not trade with a platform that only handles cryptocurrency transactions. Legitimate platforms include Robinhood (iOS, Android), Webull (iOS, Android), Charles Schwab (iOS, Android), and E*Trade (iOS, Android). Also, check the comments section for each app and look for red flags. They will jump out at you.
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