Fake WhatsApp app racks up 500,000 downloads on Google Play

Google Play is facing a new wave of fake app breaches, with recent tech reports revealing the removal of a deceptive app that mimicked the popular Google Chrome browser. The counterfeit app managed to mislead users and was downloaded over 100,000 times before Google took action to remove it from the store.

According to Al Arabiya Business, a fraudulent version of the WhatsApp messaging app was also discovered and, as of Friday evening, was still available on the Android app store, according to a report by technology news site Android Authority.

A Reddit user noted that a WhatsApp lookalike app appears among sponsored (advertised) results when searching for the original app. Google Play data shows that this fake version has been downloaded around half a million times.

The fraudulent app was published under the developer name "Agment Assets sallu," and it is currently the only app available from this account. The fake app's page is an exact copy of the original, using screenshots and descriptions taken from WhatsApp's official page.

Store data indicates that the app was published last month and has since achieved over 500,000 downloads—a significant number for a fake app, though still far below the original WhatsApp's 10 billion-plus downloads.

Although the fake app appears as an ad for some users when searching the store, it is important to note that this does not happen for everyone. When searching for WhatsApp on Google Play via mobile or web, the official app remains the top result.

According to Al Arabiya, the fake WhatsApp app appears to exploit Google Play's Early Access program. Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender recently explained that Early Access disables public user reviews for participating apps, making it harder for users to distinguish between fake and official app pages.