Fake Android apps on the Google Play Store use shortcuts to get popular

It doesn’t happen too often thanks to the rigorous checks apps go through, but occassionally a fake app will slip onto the Google Play Store. How does it happen? 

Here’s what cheating developers do:

When an Android app developer creates a malicious app and wants it to get attention fast, the easiest way to do it is to make it look like some other app that is already popular, like Waze. The impatient developer names it “Waze Tips” so it looks like customers will learn something useful. Then he puts it onto the Google Play Store and creates fake comments and ratings so it looks legit. After that, he’s set for success.

That’s the logic behind fake Android apps. Not surprisingly, there actually is an app that uses all these methods called “Free Waze Traffic GPS Maps Tip”.

This fake app uses all the tricks to fool users into installing