Fakebank Malware Evolved to Block Your Phone Calls

Yet again, a security company has found a version of malware that has evolved to be more damaging. Symantec found a new variant of the Android malware called Fakebank that can delay users from placing a phone call to their financial institutions to report fraud and cancel cards.

This version of Fakebank scans the device for certain banking apps and if it finds one, it will prompt the user to delete that app and install the bad one. Be wary if an app asks you to delete it when you are not expecting it to ask such a thing of you.

The best piece of advice for this one is to avoid downloading apps from sources other than the official app stores for your device. Sideloading, as it’s called adds an additional risk element to anyone wanting to take that chance. This is because those apps don’t typically go through as much security scrutiny before they are distributed to users as they do when they are placed into the Google Play or Apple App Store for example.

If fraud or suspicious card activity is noticed on any of your payment cards, contact your financial organization right away to take care of it. If your phone ceases to work, as may happen with this malware, use email or preferably another phone to contact them.

In addition to preventing calls, this new version will also collect banking login data and monitor phone calls. So far, this one has only been seen in South Korea and Russia. However, as with any malware, it’s only a matter of time before it hits the U.S.