Fake Bad Piggies game in Chrome Web Store hits 80,000 people with Adware

There are many things to love about Google, Android, Chrome and every other service and product they offer us. The way we see it, Android is Google and all things Google relate to us too. You all know that Rovio Mobile recently released Bad Piggies to the Play Store.  Often times a major developer like Rovio will also release the same game to the Chrome Web Store. There are plenty of other game companies that do the same thing, like Spacetime Studios. It fills a gap between playing on your phone and tablet to being able to play on a PC as well. Just like the Play Store though, there are plenty of people out there looking to make a profit off the work of others, especially big names like Rovio.

If you go search out Bad Piggies in the Play Store you get about 326 results. The first two are the real Bad Piggies by Rovio, then you get a list of walkthrough apps, cheats, guides and other things. We have seen numerous apps land in the Play Store that you have to pay money to get cheats, or pay to get unlock hacks for all levels and even some that install snazzy little ads in your notification bar. It is bad business, but it is a business.

The same thing happens on the Chrome Web Store too. You search out a game or app that you want that you phone has and you click the first one you see. Well, that didn’t work out for around 80,000 of you. There is one in there that has Bad Piggies in the name, but is clearly not the same game. In actuality is loaded full of garbage and has dropped some wickedly amazing Adware to your PC for you so they can make a profit.

Security company Barracuda Networks, which spotted the fake app, have released a detailed report on the adware. If you give the app permission to “access your data on all websites”, the plug-in can help spammers and cyber criminals gain access of your personal data such as email contacts, credit card information and others.

So what is the lesson here? Know what you are downloading and installing. If you see a game you want, but the developer name isn’t the same, then it is probably a fake and it would wise to avoid it. Always read through the comments. The others out there looking for the same thing will let you know if it is real, fake or full of garbage.

If you want Bad Piggies on your PC, you can get it though. Just head to the official channel at BadPiggies.com

Source: Thinkdigit