According to reports, a few malicious Pokémon Go apps invaded the Google Play Store, which can infect your smartphone when downloaded. The wildly popular Nintendo’s augmented reality game; Pokémon Go is now available for download in most of the countries of the world.

But we already have reports about the Pokémon Go fake apps. So, be cautious of the fake apps that can freeze your smartphone or redirect you to porn sites.

Lukáš Štefanko, a malware researcher at a Software Security Company, called ESET said that a fake gaming app named “Pokémon Go Ultimate,” is the first lock screen app to enter the Google Play store.

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According to the blog post of the company the app was used between 500-1000 times before it was taken out of the store. A report published in Fortune explains that when the fake app is downloaded and run on the smartphone, it is installed as “PI Network,” instead of Pokémon Go.

The reports also state that the one who run the fake apps would sight their phone frozen, and it might eventually force to restart the device by removing the battery. After rebooting the smartphone, the PI Network app disappears but in fact the app runs in the background and can pop up fake ad clicks. If you or any known person is already struggling with such issue, you can uninstall the app from the device application manager.

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ESET has also found many malicious apps on the store that are closely related with the augmented game Pokémon Go. Such fake apps include “Install Pokémon go” and “Guide & Cheats for Pokémon Go.” These apps attract gamers with free in-app items such as Poke coins, Poke balls or Lucky Eggs. The reality is that it is a trick to mislead the “user into subscribing to expensive bogus services.”

“Every time the user presses the ‘Back’ button, new scare ware pop-ups and advertisements appear,” added Štefanko in the post. “The only way to get rid of them is double-clicking on the ‘Back’ button.”

So, the suggestion is users have to check the details of the publishers, developers, reviews and the number of downloads of the application before downloading it from the store.

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