If you are a user of the Jio telecom network in India, you might want to be wary of any apps that look like TikTok because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up infecting your device with a fair amount of adware that would make it difficult for you to use your device in the first place. Adware can result in a barrage of pop ups and other invasive advertising techniques being shown to you time and time again thereby rendering your phone more or less unusable or too slow to do anything useful on.
This adware that is using fake versions of TikTok is an evolution of previous adware that was created by the same malicious actor, as reported by Zscaler. This malicious actor has been involved in a number of scams, most of them involving phishing and the first of which were noticed in around March of 2020. This attack is particularly notable because it takes into account a very recent event that is only being seen in India, namely the banning of TikTok.
TikTok had attained a massive amount of popularity in India over the course of its meteoric rise, but recent tensions between the Indian and Chinese governments lead to a complete ban. The threat actor in this instance tried to trick people into thinking that TikTok is now back and available to download once again, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that a lot of people have been falling for this trick since they are so desperate to start using their favorite social media platform and get connected with the various communities contained therein.
Another way in which adware is being spread is through a fake promotional offer that is supposedly meant to give various people free Lenovo laptops. Suffice it to say that there is no such offer in the real world, and in most cases whenever you see an offer like this you should be wary. A good rule of thumb is that if something sounds a bit too good to be true, chances are high that it’s actually not true at all. Jio’s customer base of over 750 million people are at risk unless action is taken swiftly.
Read next: More Shady iOS Apps Are "Recommended By Apple" & Charging Users Hidden Subscription Fees
This adware that is using fake versions of TikTok is an evolution of previous adware that was created by the same malicious actor, as reported by Zscaler. This malicious actor has been involved in a number of scams, most of them involving phishing and the first of which were noticed in around March of 2020. This attack is particularly notable because it takes into account a very recent event that is only being seen in India, namely the banning of TikTok.
TikTok had attained a massive amount of popularity in India over the course of its meteoric rise, but recent tensions between the Indian and Chinese governments lead to a complete ban. The threat actor in this instance tried to trick people into thinking that TikTok is now back and available to download once again, and with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that a lot of people have been falling for this trick since they are so desperate to start using their favorite social media platform and get connected with the various communities contained therein.
Another way in which adware is being spread is through a fake promotional offer that is supposedly meant to give various people free Lenovo laptops. Suffice it to say that there is no such offer in the real world, and in most cases whenever you see an offer like this you should be wary. A good rule of thumb is that if something sounds a bit too good to be true, chances are high that it’s actually not true at all. Jio’s customer base of over 750 million people are at risk unless action is taken swiftly.
Read next: More Shady iOS Apps Are "Recommended By Apple" & Charging Users Hidden Subscription Fees
