Search giant Google has removed a number of fake games claiming to be from the company behind the immensely successful game "Angry Birds."
The scammers impersonated Rovio Mobile, the company behind the "Angry Birds" franchise, news site TheGadgets.net reported.
"Several new apps, including 'Angry Birds 3D' have gone up for sale today, but don’t be fooled! These scammers are impersonating Rovio Mobile, the creators of the Angry Birds franchise, with a host of apps that are designed to steal your dollars. Customers who have been taken in by these apps have reported that the apps do not work, and the developers have refused to give refunds," it said.
It said it alerted Google to the problem.
TheGadgets.com reported Google has moved quickly, and the offending apps have been removed from the market.
A list of the fake games drawn up by the site included:
Alive 4 Ever
Call of Duty Zombies
Angry Birds 3D
Zombieville
Zombie Highway
Tiny Wings
Catch the Candy
Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift
Rat on a Skateboard
Zombie Gunship
Resident Evil 4
Siege Hero
"The developers of these apps have stolen the app descriptions of legitimate apps, pasted them into the fakes, and hoped that you won’t know the difference. Visiting the developer’s website links also takes you to a number of different sites, all of them dead links and variations on Rovio.com, the official site of Rovio Mobile," it said.
On the other hand, the site suggested that app permissions should also be considered carefully.
It also suggested that users see how many times an app has been downloaded.
"If the app has been around a while, but no one is downloading it, there’s probably a reason," it said.
"If the developer’s description is terribly written with a lot of mistakes, and words don’t make sense, it’s a good clue that the developer is probably a scammer. If the app description is copied from another popular app, this should also clue you in that something has been altered or stolen," it added. — TJD, GMA News
source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/239996/scitech/gaming/google-downs-fake-rovio-games-from-android-market
