Security experts have sent alarm bells ringing after they detected a new variant of the notorious mobile banking Trojan “Faketoken” on the loose.
The Android malware is able to steal credentials from popular taxi applications and ride-sharing apps, Kaspersky Lab said on Friday. In a statement the security software company said that the new new version of “Faketoken” performs live tracking of apps and, when the user runs a specified app, overlays this with its phishing window to steal the bank card details of the victim.
According to Kaspersky Lab, the new version of “Faketoken” targets mostly Russian users but they believe the geography of attacks could easily be extended in the future. The “Faketoken” modification steals all incoming SMS messages by redirecting them to its command and control servers, allowing criminals to get access to one-time verification passwords sent by a bank, or other messages sent by taxi and ride-sharing services.
The trojan virus has an identical interface, with the same colour schemes and logos, which creates an instant and completely invisible overlay. Security experts say that looking at the activities of these malware makers, it is obvious that they are trying to find more ways to extract financial data and it is onto the developers of Android apps that they start paying more attention to the protection of their users.
“The banking industry is already familiar with fraud schemes and tricks, and its previous response involved the implementation of security technologies in apps that significantly reduced the risk of theft of critical financial data,” said Viktor Chebyshev, security expert at Kaspersky Lab.
