Android: Banking Trojan that asks for money in exchange for information about nearby people infected with COVID-19

Therefore, once downloaded to the victim's phone, this Trojan may receive an order from the attacker to open a web page titled “Coronavirus Finder”, which claims that there are people nearby who have been infected with the virus. To find out where these people are, the victim is asked to pay € 0,75.

If the victim agrees, they are transferred to a payment page. However, once the payment details have been entered, the victim is not charged this amount and does not receive any information about the "infected". Instead, the data of the your credit card has just been handed over to cybercriminals. 

Ginp is a Trojan that has evolved rapidly since it first appeared, constantly acquiring new features. Although in the past the targets were mainly residents of Spain - 83% of the victims are Spaniards - everything suggests that the attackers are planning to attack other countries.

“For months, cybercriminals have been trying to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis by launching phishing attacks and creating coronavirus-themed malware. However, it's the first time we've seen a banking Trojan trying to profit from the pandemic. It is alarming, especially since Ginp is a very effective Trojan. We encourage android users to pay particular attention right now: updates, unknown web pages and spontaneous coronavirus messages should always be viewed with skepticism, ”says Alexander Eremin, security expert at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky products correctly detect and block the threat.

Read more about Ginp on Kaspersky Daily. 

To reduce the risk of being exposed to Ginp or other banking Trojans, Kaspersky experts recommend:

• Download apps from official Android stores only. 
• Don't click on suspicious links and never reveal sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card information. 
• Install a reliable security solution on your phone, such as Kaspersky Internet Security for Android, which protects against a wide range of threats, including banking Trojans.