Fake Chrome App on Google Play Evades Detection and Reaches 100,000+ Downloads
A Hizbartech app impersonated Chrome on Google Play and showed a disputed 100,000-download badge before apparent removal.
Researchers reported a Google Play listing that copied Chrome’s name, icon, and description while naming developer Hizbartech rather than Google LLC. Package com.ballbounce.Hizbartech previously appeared as the game Ball Bounce before a late-September rebrand, and some users said the 42 MB app showed a chat or contacts interface. Reports do not establish password theft, remote control, or a banking-trojan payload, and separate SpyNote and Anatsa cases are not linked. Download figures conflict between 100,000+ and 10,000+, and an October 14 not-found result did not confirm worldwide removal.
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