Researchers at cybersecurity company ESET have identified a new spyware (malicious software) campaign for Android that uses stealth tactics. romantic scams to deceive users and steal personal data. The action, initially detected in Pakistan, involves an application that pretends to be a chat platform similar to popular dating apps, such as Tinder. Users install using a persuasion technique.
According to ESET, the scam allows users to start conversations with supposed “girls”, which are actually fake profiles, possibly operated through WhatsApp. Behind the false promise of romantic interaction, the real objective of the app — called GhostChat by the company — is to extract and transfer the victim’s data continuously while it remains installed on the device.
One of the points that most caught the researchers’ attention was the use of an unprecedented layer of social engineering. On GhostChat, fake female profiles appear as “locked” and can only be accessed by using a password. However, these codes are already embedded in the application code itself, which indicates that the requirement works only as a tactic to create a false sense of exclusivity and attract victims.
It is not yet known how users reach this application, as it never existed on the Google Play Store. Applications from unknown sources, which are not available in the device’s official system store, are not considered safe.
