Malicious websites offering Android versions of Fortnite downloads have been discovered already, just days after the game was officially launched as a beta outside of the Google Play Store.
Developer Epic Games had already announced the game would not be available through Google Play, in a move that avoids it having to pay Google’s 30% cut on all purchases made, and instead provides the game as a download through its own website.
In a Wired report, the publication found seven websites advertising Fortnite for Android, all of which were then identified to carry malware by security experts Lockout. Upon investigation, the most common malware fools downloaders into visiting websites loaded with ads, on the promise of a code or opportunity to download the Fortnite game.
It’s also pointed out that before Google and Bing responded to complaints, the top search result for an Android version of Fortnite led not to the official version, but one loaded with malware.
Lookout’s Christoph Hebeisen told Wired why Fortnite not being available in the Google Play Store makes it interesting:
“When we are looking at fake apps that pretend to be a particular game, and that game is available on the Play Store, there’s a fairly high barrier for people to download that game from somewhere else, because they know that’s not a legitimate source.”
Fortnite does not have this safety barrier, and the consequences are already evident.
via businessofapps
