A DODGY image editing app downloaded more than 100,000 times has been accused of stealing people’s Facebook details.
Experts say they found a sinister trojan called Facestealer lurking under the bonnet of Craftsart Cartoon Photo Tools, which connects to a Russian server.
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The spyware allows hackers to gain complete access to victims’ Facebook accounts, including any sensitive data stored on it, like credit card details and private conversations.
Users were tricked into providing their Facebook username and password in order to use the app.
But doing so actually sends the details off to cybercriminals, who typically go on to scam people out of money, send phishing links and even spread fake news.
Google has since removed the app from the Play Store.
Anyone who already had it installed has been urged to delete it immediately.
“To reach a large public and conceal its illegal activities, it mimics the behaviours of popular legitimate photo editing applications,” security firm Pradeo said.
“In fact, it has been injected with a small piece of code that easily slips under the radar of store’s safeguards.”
Con artists tried to dupe people by listing themselves as ‘Google Commerce Ltd’ in the about section of the app.
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But some noticed a random and unprofessional Gmail account was listed as the developer’s email, which is a bit of a red flag.
And reviews of the app were pretty poor as well, with some claiming the app is fake.
As well as deleting the app, anyone who has used Craftsart Cartoon Photo Tools will need to carry out a few other safeguards.
Crucially, you should reset your Facebook account details, particularly changing your password.
If you have used the same username and password on other accounts, you should change those too as hackers tend to chance using them for other sites and services.
And finally, you might want to switch on two-factor authentication to keep accounts extra safe going forward.
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In other news, the new Harry Potter video game Hogwarts Legacy will feature some familiar faces despite being set hundreds of years before the majority of characters were even born.
A major Mars mission to find out whether life ever existed on the planet could be delayed by up to six years at best, as Europe scrambles to replace Russian parts.
Internet users have been urged not to use a popular piece of anti-virus software over fears it could be exploited by the Kremlin to spy or launch cyberattacks.
And Instagram could be planning to bring back a way to see what your friends like on the platform.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
