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A 20-year-old Android developer in France is behind bars after he was caught spreading a virus via an Android app that stole user’s passwords and sent text messages to a premium phone number. The unnamed developer created fake apps that mimic original ones in order to trick people into downloading them.
Once on a user’s smartphone, the apps would send text messages to a premium phone number set up by the developer. The app also sent him the login credentials for gaming and gambling websites used by the owners of the infected phones. Over the course of two years, this scam earned the developer over 500,000 euros ($650,000). According to the BBC report, the French developer was motivated by his love of computers and his desire to become a software developer and not monetary reward.
[Via BBC and Phone Arena]
About The Author
Kelly Hodgkins
Kelly spent the last four years covering mobile technology at places like BGR, Gizmodo and The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Before writing, she spent a few years working with and teaching others how to use Adobe Flash and Macromedia Director. Even earlier than that, she spent several years as a Ph.D student in Microbiology. When she's not writing, she can be found fishing the lakes and hiking the mountains of Western Maine with her husband and tribe of children. You can follow her on Twitter @kellyhodgkins.
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