The chances of you encountering Android malware on the Google Play are relatively slim, but that doesn't mean it's not out there. Yesterday, an app masquerading as the Angry Birds sequel Bad Piggies was yanked from the Google Play store.

Security company F-Secure wrote yesterday that they detected the unusual app and reported it to Google, who has since pulled the app from the Google Play store. The fake app was hard to spot when searching for the popular Bad Piggies game because the icon was a carbon copy of the legitimate game, from developer Rovio. The only hint that something was out of place was the slight change to the name (Bad Pigs instead of Bad Piggies) and that "Dan Stokes" was listed as the developer of the fake version.

F-Secure notes that the fake app had over 10,000 downloads since May 25, 2013. Thankfully no one else can be duped by this clone anymore. In an earlier interview with SecurityWatch, F-Secure's chief researcher Mikko Hypponen said that while rare, trojanized apps were among the most dangerous threats for Android users.

Bad Piggies Indeed

Sean Sullivan, a security advisor with F-Secure, told SecurityWatch that this fake game was particularly tricky. "The fake installer app isn't classified as 'malicious,' which is may be why it got past Google's bouncer," said Sullivan, referring to Google's automated system for scanning developer's apps.

It's not clear exactly what these Bad Piggies were up to, but the entry on App Brainshows that the app requested an enormous number of permissions. These include the ability to change some settings, full access to your location and personal information, and a slew of of others.

Many of these fake apps will push ads, or install links to ads on your Android device, which is obviously annoying. Others will attempt to sign you up for paid services via premium SMS, or will link you to other scams through ads.

Already Download It?

If you're among the 10,000 people duped by this app, the first thing to do is find it and delete it using the Android App Manager found in the Settings menu. F-Secure writes that their mobile security offering detects and blocks the app, and others will certainly do the same.

Lookout and our current mobile anti-malware Editors' Choice Bitdefender Mobile Secuirty are also both free downloads and will perform malware scans—though both require subscriptions for other functions. It's not known whether these apps will detect the Bad Piggies clone.

What To Watch Out For

Trojanized apps are generally popular games, that someone has re-made with nasty extras hidden inside. These are sometimes listed as "free" versions, or come from third-party websites that trade in cracked versions of paid software.

"Dan Stokes," if that really is his name, is a great example. He has two other games, "Fruit Chop Ninja" and "Paper Toss 2", that are both identical to popular Android apps.

Google Play does a good job of filtering out these nasty lookalikes, but a few do slip trough. If you see a free version that comes from a different developer than the paid version, don't download it. Also, a lot of these clones prey on people looking for pirated software. Avoid becoming a victim by ponying up a few dollars for the legitimate app, and not side-loading a cracked version.

Further Reading

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