I was scrolling through Instagram earlier and came across a very interesting advertisement:
this ad, which claims my iPhone is “severely damaged” by a whopping 247 viruses, and will soon corrupt my SIM card, data, photos, and contacts, if I do not follow these steps:
- Install the virus removal application for “free”
- Run the application and remove the viruses.
Going to their advertisement page, I learnt that they are going by “Powerful Cleaner-Clean Storage” on Facebook/Instagram to promote this obvious scareware.
there Facebook, linked here, gives us a little more information. Primarily, the application is less “virus removal” and more “clean your iPhone storage!!!”
It also gives us the email [email protected]
and a link to the applications App Store page
The app seems pretty popular, #74 in utilities. However there are reviews that claim they offer a “free trial” in which they will then instantly charge you $60 per year. And for a supposed “free” virus removal app, they do have a LOT of subscription offers:
In-App Purchases
VIP 1-Week Plan - $3.99
Weekly Membership - $9.99
VIP 1-Week Plan - $4.99
VIP 1-Year Plan - $29.99
VIP 1-Year Plan - $59.99
1-Year Premium - $34.99
VIP 1-Year Plan - $39.99
VIP 1-Week Plan - $5.99
Weekly Membership - $4.99
1-Year Premium - $39.99
In addition, we can find their App Store store page, where they have two apps, the other being a “Bedtime: Sleep Tracker” app with the same subscription prices as the other application.
When searching them up on Google, it very much seems like this is their website:
however, the website claims “As a leading innovative programmatic marketplace, we empower you to get the most lucrative programmatic advertising services. Combined with global prime resources, we guarantee an effective market for developers.” so it is not certain that this is the same people.
I am not sure what to make of this, and whether or not “scareware” such as this application should be considered a scam or not. At the very least, it is incredible shady and the company behind it uses deception and lies to promote and sell their product.