A fake and possibly malicious version of Facebook-owned WhatsApp was found lurking on Google Play Store as "Update WhatsApp Messenger" with developer name as 'WhatsApp Inc*'. When IANS checked it on the Play Store, we found the app has been downloaded up to 5,000 times. There is another version under the same name which has a million downloads. The original WhatsApp has 1 billion downloads.
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The existence of the shady software was first highlighted by the popular WhatsApp change tracking website WABetaInfo, via Twitter user @MujtabaMHaq, IB Times reported late on Thursday. According to the report, a version of popular mobile game Temple Run 2 can also be found which was uploaded in October. The software posing as WhatsApp Business already have several users complaining about it in comments section.
@WABetaInfo @WhatsApp before official original app, there's a copycat app has been launched on @GooglePlay Store... pic.twitter.com/XFtA5mVEP8— Mᵁᴶᵀᴬᴮᴬ Mᴬᴺˢᴼᴼᴿ (@MujtabaMHaq) October 31, 2017
"DON'T DOWNLOAD THIS APP! IT'S FAKE! WhatsApp Business is not officially available yet for all," the WABetaInfo social media account tweeted to its 30,000 followers. It added: "Check only official channels to download WhatsApp Business in future." WhatsApp Business is yet to launch as a standalone service.
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