WhatsApp at risk: A fake malicious app can steal personal data from phone

While Facebook is refreshing its terms of service and data policy to analyse what user data it gathers and shares all over its family of products, a new report claims that WhatsApp users personal data is at risk.

According to Malwarebytes, a fake WhatsApp app has been spotted on the web, with the ability to obtain access to one's personal data. WhatsApp, being one of the most popular apps with over 1.5 billion monthly active users globally, is bound to have replicated.

WhatsApp Plus is a fake version of WhatsApp. Shared via a link, the tweaked version is downloaded as 'an.apk' file. The app stars a gold logo instead of the standard green logo and has a URL and a handle written inside. After clicking on ‘Agree and continue,’ the app will show itself as out-of-date and will prompt you to install the updated version.

“Please go to Google Play Store to download the latest version,” says the message on the app. Once you tend to do that, the app redirects you to a dubious website which is in Arabic. The website reportedly lets you download an app having an unusual name —Watts Plus Plus WhatsApp.

Furthermore, Malwarebytes Lab reported that the fake app includes features similar to the original WhatsApp app such as hiding received texts, typing a message, reading texts and hide the current writing, along with an option to hide the details of you played a voice clip. Sadly, the report doesn't reveal how the fake version of WhatsApp works and gathers data.

“No matter the true author or origin of this fake Whatsapp, I suggest sticking with the real WhatsApp on Google Play. Although Google Play has its faults, it’s tremendously safer than some of the sources, I came across researching this riskware,” concluded the report.

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