{"id":3029,"date":"2011-01-17T10:37:05","date_gmt":"2011-01-17T10:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darknet.org.uk\/?p=3029"},"modified":"2015-09-09T19:37:20","modified_gmt":"2015-09-09T11:37:20","slug":"china-facing-problems-with-android-handsets-pre-installed-trojans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.darknet.org.uk\/2011\/01\/china-facing-problems-with-android-handsets-pre-installed-trojans\/","title":{"rendered":"China Facing Problems With Android Handsets & Pre-installed Trojans"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems like the Chinese<\/a> are always coming up with inventive ways to scam people, this time the people in their own country. Android<\/a> is of course growing quickly globally and China is no exception with the availability of cheap hardware there the open-source Android OS is a natural choice.<\/p>\n

The latest scam is some new generation of “money sucking mobiles” – which are basically Android handsets that steal the users credit by making covert calls or sending premium SMS. It does this very slowly so the user doesn’t notice, it also enables the vendors to sell the handsets very cheaply as they are essentially subsidized by the fraud.<\/p>\n

The Chinese government is to crack down on “money sucking” mobiles: Android-based handsets that subsidise themselves by stealing from the customer’s account.<\/p>\n

The crackdown aims to involve network operators, target retailers and ensure that selling handsets featuring pre-installed Trojans is explicitly illegal, according to the Google translation.<\/p>\n

The idea is to set up a central unit to manage complaints, though it seems the scam has been going on long enough to build up considerable momentum.<\/p>\n

The handsets concerned are sold cheaply, and generally unbranded, though some bear forged logos. Once they go into use the Android-based handsets start quietly sending text messages, or making a silent call or two. The transactions only incur a fee of about around 20 pence (0.3USD) a time, in the hope the user will never notice, while the miscreant collects the termination fee or other premium charge. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s pretty shady, but not much different from the reports of US and UK consumers with branded network phones having all kinds of weird network charges which they can’t stop because the phones are loaded up with proprietary crapware (oh hello Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and so on).<\/p>\n

It’s an interesting model for fraud and honestly I think it will continue for a long time as it’s unlikely the users of low end Android devices will bother reading such tech-news and even if they did…what can they do about it? If they are really techy of course they can just root the phone and remove the malware themselves.<\/p>\n

But for the rest of the unwashed masses, what options do they have? Not a lot really apart from the ditching the phone and buying another with the hope that it doesn’t come pre-installed with a trojan.<\/p>\n