Where removed, go there – Kommersant

Fake copies of services designed to circumvent the removal of Russian applications from the Google Play store appear on Google Play itself, Kommersant noted. In particular, the store has applications that copy the brands RuStore, RuMarket and Sbol. Most apps do nothing but display ads, including genuine RuStore. Experts note both the growth in the number of fake applications exploiting the topic of sanctions, and certain benefits for advertisers – official store operators.

Kommersant discovered services in the Google Play Android app store that use the names of alternative Russian app marketplaces RuStore (developed by VK under the auspices of the Ministry of Digital Development) and RuMarket (released by Anatoly Smorgonsky, current CEO of the Bibi taxi aggregator in Russia). Applications use logos that are similar to the original ones, but do not have explicit user functions, but only display banner ads.

The publisher of one of the fictitious applications, RuMarket, who calls himself Sberbank inc, also published an application on Google Play using the Sbol brand. Such an application, which is not formally associated with the sanctioned Sberbank, is periodically released for iOS devices, but not for Android. Applications that mimic Sbol are also released by other publishers. Most of them also only show ads to the user, but at least one of them (the publisher Maslova mrsDevops) asks to enter all the bank card details.

Apps that would look like other Russian stores (NashStore, AppBazar) or other apps that give access to bank accounts under sanctions (Prime Balance, Everything is Simple, etc.) were not found on Google Play was. There are no such apps in the App Store.

VK protects its trademarks and other intellectual property, and RuStore is available for download only on the official website, Kommersant was told in the company’s press service. Sberbank said that it regularly identifies fraudulent applications that may be associated with the bank and send complaints to Google, “however, the response to complaints and blocking applications is the responsibility of the application store itself.” RuMarket did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

An increase in the number of bogus applications that exploit the topic of restrictions for Russian publishers is recorded regularly, “hackers can use such topics to attract the attention of users and convince them to download a fake application,” says Pavel Kovalenko, director of the Anti-Fraud Center at Informzashchita. The phenomenon of fake apps is not new, he says. Dmitry Galov, a cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab, confirmed that the authors of such applications “can adapt to the news agenda.”

The applications discovered by Kommersant use widgets from the Yandex advertising network, while advertisements of the genuine RuStore paid for by VK LLC appeared in the banner rotation. Large brands, however, care about where their ads are placed only with direct placement, “in other cases it is difficult to control, since there can be 10-15 intermediaries between the advertiser and the application publisher,” says Artem Bigildeev, co-founder of Setka.media . He noted that advertisers benefit from any ad that provides a motivated transition: “A person who puts up a fake market will see an ad for a normal one and go to them. Advertisers rarely blacklist apps, only if the ads aren’t performing well or if they’re bad for their image.” VK did not answer questions regarding RuStore advertising.

Users trust Google Play even in matters related to the actions of the site itself, “they are used to the fact that the built-in store is actually the only source of answers to questions about applications,” says Pavel Golub, co-founder of digital platform development company Arcsinus. He adds that although Google has stopped commercial operations in Russia, the complaints procedure has not changed, “the appearance of fraudulent products in the store is a potential threat to users, and therefore a matter of general security.”

Yuri Litvinenko