Skip to main content

Angry Birds scam took aim to European cellphones

The craze for Angry Birds has led to more than a thousand Britons falling for phone scams that has seen them be charged up to £15 ($23.48 at current conversion rates) just for opening fake versions of the game, as well as other mobile games such as Assassin’s Creed and Cut The Rope that were available on Google’s official Google Play platform.

Each of the 27 different Android apps pretending to be official editions of popular games included RuFraud malware that, despite the apps being downloadable for free, would charge the user each time the game was opened, with the total cost of the fraud being estimated in the region of £27,850 (Around $43,6000) all told. The scam was discovered by Lookout Mobile Security, who contacted Google and managed to have the apps removed as quickly as possible.

Recommended Videos

According to Lookout, the scam affected users in 18 different countries (In addition to the UK, users in Italy, France, Israel, Germany, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Czech Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Estonia all downloaded the apps) with the apps being listed under six different developers to throw off security scanning from Google.

The UK’s premium rate phone regulator, PhonePay Plus, described the methodology of the scam in a statement: “These fake apps were advertised as free but contained malicious coding (malware) that charged the phone’s account £15 every time the app was opened (usually charged through three £5 premium rate texts),” it explained. “The malware suppressed the sent and received text messages that notify users they have been charged. It was only when consumers received their bill that they were alerted to the fraudulent charges.”

It’s not all bad news, however; PhonePay Plus managed to not only prevent money being paid to the scammers, but also identify the scammers as a Latvian company calling itself A1 Agregator. The company is £50,000, as well as orders to refund any money that it has managed to take from users as a result of the fake apps within three months or face further action.

Worryingly, PhonePay Plus believes that this scam may have been the start of something bigger. “These apps had coding to affect 18 countries and can be seen as part of an experiment to see where these attacks were successful in delivering revenue,” the organization said. The takeaway message? Be careful about the apps you download for your phone – and check your cellphone bills closely, just in case.

Graeme McMillan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A transplant from the west coast of Scotland to the west coast of America, Graeme is a freelance writer with a taste for pop…
A major Samsung Galaxy S25 leak bares all, and there’s plenty of bad news
All four colors of the Samsung Galaxy S24 laying face-down on a table.

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series will officially pop up on stage later this month. It does not offer much to feel excited about, it seems. The folks over at Android Headlines have shared alleged specs sheets of the upcoming Samsung phones alongside market-ready product renders of all three trims.

Starting with the Galaxy S25 and its Plus variant, the only notable change is the new silicon. They will arrive toting Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, but the rest of the internal hardware is a no-excitement zone. As far as the design goes, abandon all hope.

Read more
iPhone 17 Pro camera specs leaked. There are good and bad changes
Mockup of redesigned iPhone 17 Pro.

There's new information about this year's iPhone 17 smartphone lineup, all concerning the cameras found on the phones. Depending on opinions, the news could be viewed as a mix of good and bad.

Firstly, leaker Digital Chat Station confirmed an earlier report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that said the company plans to make significant camera upgrades on the 2025 iPhone lineup.

Read more
This lifesaving app is helping people track wildfires in California
Person using the Watch Duty fire tracker app on their iPhone.

The Los Angeles area has been hit by devastating fires, destroying thousands of structures and forcing swathes of people to evacuate. Reports suggest multiple deaths and no immediate respite from the hazard.

In the midst of chaos, many have turned to an app to keep an eye on the situation as it unfolds and receive emergency alerts. The app in question is Watch Duty, which aggregates details from government agencies, news briefings, and camera feeds capturing the damage by fire.

Read more