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Unofficial Telegram app with more than 100k installs promoted malicious websites

Malicious code found on fake Telegram app

Malicious code found on fake Telegram app

We know that Telegram is currently the most feature-rich application in the world. This is because you get end-to-end encryption and every other feature that you might have imagined. Now, this also becomes a problem for some who say that Telegram gives too many features and privacy. It was also revealed that Telegram was the messaging app of choice for terrorists and illegal activities as well because of its security.

Now, there are some users who want even more from Telegram apparently. This is why users searched for getting even more features outside of Telegram but with the same service. They also found an app which exactly meets their choice, more than 100k of them. Yes, there was a fake Telegram app on Google Play Store deemed as an unofficial client for Telegram.

This app offered so many features on top of Telegram that more than 100,000 users installed it. Although it is not revealed that the app offered similar features to Telegram but instead pushed malicious code on users’ phones.

In a way to increase traffic to malicious websites, this application came in very handy. This application is known to be named as MobonoGram 2019 so if you have installed, uninstall it right now. Since it was on Google Play Store, it might only be available for Android. However, it is also worth noting that the app cleared Google Play Store’s restrictions even while being a malware.

Here is how the MobonoGram app actually worked. First of all, the app used code from the legitimate Telegram messenger. Then, it added a few scripts that ran in secret on the infected device to help with persistence and with loading URLs received from the command server. RamKal developers, the publisher of this app, has already pushed five updates to its app to hide the malicious code since it has been caught.

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