- #4shadow app scam for free#
- #4shadow app scam update#
- #4shadow app scam android#
- #4shadow app scam code#
You can sort and move and drag and drop to your heart's content. It looks like a regular Explorer/file manager view. The interface is quite nice and advanced as well. Apart from a 20-second wait before downloading each file, there are no transfer limitations, the servers are fast (or as fast as I could want with my 5 MBps downstream) and reliable, and the file size limit is a generous 2 GB. They are generally very free-user-friendly, not only for your own account, but for downloading files from others as well.
#4shadow app scam for free#
15 GB for free blows most other services out of the water right there already. Judging by the user reactions on their blogs and Facebook page, I assume this is because they are particularly popular in non-English-speaking regions.įirst of all, you get a lot of space. They're kind of an underdog, although I have read that by pure numbers, they're among the largest in the world. In May, BuzzFeed News reported similar suspicious behavior and fraudulent purchases in Chinese video app VidMate.4shared is my favourite cloud storage service by far. It’s the latest app in recent months to be accused of using invisible ads to generate fraudulent revenue. The developer said Google also banned his app, forcing him to resubmit an entirely new version of his app to the store. Little else is known about Elephant Data, except that it bills itself as a “market intelligence” solution designed to “maximize ad revenue.” The ad firm has drawn criticism in several threads on Reddit, one of which accused the company of operating a “scam” and another called the offering “dodgy.” One developer said he removed the components from his app after it began to suffer from battery life issues, but Elephant Data was “still collecting data” from users who hadn’t updated yet their apps.
4shared said since it’s unable to control or disable Elephant Data’s components in its old app, “we’re bound to keep the detailed overview of which data may be processed and how it may be shared” in its privacy policy. 4shared, owned by New IT Solutions based in the British Virgin Islands, makes a brief reference to Elephant Data in its privacy policy but doesn’t explicitly say what the service does. We sent Elephant Data several questions and follow-up emails prior to publication but we did not hear back. Google did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
#4shadow app scam update#
But because their old app was pulled from Android’s app store, 4shared said it wasn’t allowed to push an update to existing users to remove the suspicious components from their devices. Len said the old app was removed by Google “without reason,” but its suspicions quickly fell on the third-party components, which the company removed and resubmitted the app for approval. Irin Len, a spokesperson for 4shared, told TechCrunch that the company was “unaware” of the fraudulent ad activity in its app until we reached out, but confirmed the company no longer works with Elephant Data. At the time of writing, 4shared’s new app has more than 10 million users. Then in mid-April, 4shared’s app suddenly disappeared from Google Play and was replaced with a near-identical app with the suspicious components removed. Upstream only has visibility in certain parts of the world - Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia to name a few - suggesting the number of observed suspicious transactions was likely a fraction of the total number.
Over the past few weeks Upstream said it’s blocked over 114 million suspicious transactions originating from two million unique devices, according to data from its proprietary security platform, which the company said would cost consumers if they are not blocked.
#4shadow app scam code#
Upstream also said the code deliberately obfuscates the web addresses it accesses and uses redirection chains to hide the suspicious activity. The code also sets a cookie to determine if a device has previously been used to make a purchase, likely as a way to hide the activity. They said the component, built by Hong Kong-based Elephant Data, downloads code which is “directly responsible” for generating the automated clicks without the user’s knowledge. The researchers say the app contains suspicious third-party code which allowed the app to automate clicks and make fraudulent purchases. “It all happens in the background… nothing appears on the screen,” said Guy Krief, chief executive of London-based Upstream, which shared its research exclusively with TechCrunch.
#4shadow app scam android#
With more than 100 million installs, file sharing service 4shared is one of the most popular apps in the Android app store.īut security researchers say the app is secretly displaying invisible ads and subscribes users to paid services, racking up charges without the user’s knowledge - or their permission - collectively costing millions of dollars.
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