Android porn malware leads to arrests in Japan

According to local media reports, authorities in Japan have arrested six men in connection with an app that infected Android smartphones, stole personal information and demanded that a fee was paid.

The malware was distributed via an X-rated porn website, and posed as a video player app.

However, users who installed the software were allegedly presented with a screen every five minutes which read:

“Please pay the fees as soon as possible. You need to confirm the unpaid amount. It totals 99,800 yen.”

In addition, the app is said to have stolen personal data (such as phone numbers and email addresses) from infected phones.

In total, 9,252 people are said to have downloaded the malicious Android app since the end of December last year. According to police, 211 people were convinced by the app to hand over a total sum of…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.