Though the game is addictive, it has been a talk of the town for many issues, good and bad.
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There have been reports of malicious Pokemon GO apps out in the wild since the game was released over a week ago, but more of them are popping out of the brush than Caterpies just out of Pallet Town.
After the installation from Google Play, there was no evidence of Pokemon Go Ultimate on the devices, but instead an app using the name “PI Network” and a different icon was added. Luckily, it was able to be uninstalled by users manually through their settings menu, just like any other app. Jailbreaking an iPhone will also void all warranty on the device.
A screen locked by “Pokemon GO Ultimate”.
How do I know if I installed a malicious version of Pokemon Go? The apk files for Android could be altered or tweaked and injected with a virus or malware.
RiskIQ has found more than 215 unofficial versions of the app in more than 21 app stores.
The world is going gaga over an augmented reality game that lets you catch famous Pokemon characters from the popular Japanese cartoon series.
Because Pokemon GO is only available in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the United Kingdom, some users outside these countries installed the app seeking a way to play Nintendo’s bestseller. An IT company based in Slovakia identified a potential threat on Google Play Store earlier this week – “Pokemon GO Ultimate”.
Once launched, both apps feature pop-ups that ask users to “verify” their account, only to deliver scareware. The ads could also take the user to malware-injecting websites and infect the smartphone heavily causing data and privacy loss. The app forces the phones to restart and later disappears from the screen. RiskIQ, a firm that tracks mobile malware, has detected dozens of these questionable apps. Restarting the phone to stop the app from executing does not help in many cases since the app is bound to start automatically after the phone restarts again.
Some users, however, may still be tempted to download knock-offs of Pokemon Go. For example, to install any app from an APK site you need to allow app installs from untrusted sources (Settings Security Unknown Sources).
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Wait for the app to officially launch in your country.
