Ether Scam on Google Play Leaves Users with Logo for €335

The fraudulent app was purportedly selling one Ether for the fixed price of €335, but all users got was a logo of the Ethereum project.

It appears fraudsters never sleep and have found a new way of stealing the money of gullible investors, this time through an ingenious scam involving Ether.

After scammers bilked tens of thousands of US dollars from investors, mainly in Bitcoin and Ether, by using the “famous person giving away Bitcoins and Ethers” scam on Twitter, now an unknown party has published a mobile app in Google Play Store, purportedly selling one Ether for €335. The price of one Ether is around €247, or about $285, as of the time of writing.

Cryptovest’s search in Google Play Store did not find the app in question, so it seems to have already been taken down. However, according to a Tweet from cyber security expert and malware researcher Lukas Stefanko, it has been “updated” on August 14 and downloaded by at least 100 gullible users.

"Buying Ethereum app is not the same as buying#Ethereum.Scam app for €335 only displays ETH logo.pic.twitter.com/msBYiT7Gqq" — Lukas Stefanko (@LukasStefanko) 21 август 2018 г.

What they got in exchange for their €335 was not Ether but a logo of the Ethereum project, and in a low resolution at that. It seems the scam was mainly targeting Korean users as the description is in Korean, but the developers claim the app is being offered by Google Commerce Ltd. It is worth noting there is indeed such a company, which based in Ireland and provides computer-related services and consulting, as per Bloomberg.

Our check revealed that Google Commerce is also offering Ethereum Android, an Ethereum wallet currently in public beta and with no reviews despite being allegedly installed more than 10,000 times. It seems this app is free.

Unlike Apple, which has strict requirements and pre-screens the applications published on iTunes, Google has a more hands-off approach and relies on the honesty of developers. There are a number of Android developer guidelines, including on “Privacy, security, and deception.”