This is really a bit ridiculous. Google Play and Chrome are both Google’s own apps, so logically, Google should review them especially strictly. I never expected a rookie mistake like this to show up now.
Recently, some internet users discovered that when searching for Chrome on the Google Play Store, the top result was surprisingly not Google’s official Chrome browser, but a counterfeit app published by a third-party developer. What’s even more outrageous is that this fake Chrome not only successfully passed Google Play’s review, but could even be promoted through paid ads, and its store page showed cumulative downloads of more than 100,000.
Image source: Android Authority
Fake Chrome has appeared on the Google Play Store, and it even bought ads to rank ahead of the real one! Downloads have surpassed 100,000.
According to Android Authority According to the report, Reddit user nikhilchacko shared on r/browsers that when he searched for Chrome in the Play Store, he found an app named “Google Chrome” at the top, but its developer was an account called “Hizbartech.” It showed over 100,000 downloads, and it was ranked even above Google’s official Chrome. Moreover, this placement was not an organic ranking; it was a sponsored ad the other party paid for:
Is this Fake Chrome app? I found it in Google Playstore as a sponsored suggestion when searched for Chrome LOL.
byu/nikhilchacko inbrowsers
Judging from the screenshot posted by a netizen, this app uses Chrome’s official icon, and the description text on the store page is copied verbatim from Google’s version. The only giveaway is the tiny line of developer name below the icon.
According to PiunikaWeb According to the Play Store page and APKPure archive records found, this app wasn’t originally called Chrome. When it was listed on August 22, it was a ball-bouncing mini-game called “Ball Bounce,” with the package name com.ballbounce.Hizbartech:
Image source: PiunikaWeb
It wasn’t until September 30 that the developer changed the name to “Google Chrome” and the icon to Chrome’s icon, and then started running ads, but didn’t change “ballbounce” in the package name.
As for what happens after you install it? A few Reddit users got curious, downloaded this 42 MB app, and found that it wasn’t a browser at all.
One commenter put it this way: “They didn’t even bother to copy Chromium, and they didn’t stuff in any trackers or data-stealing software—they just put out a weird contacts app packed with AI avatars.” Another comment quoted by Android Authority also noted that it’s just a chat app, and the conversations are all prewritten canned responses; other than that, it has no features at all:
However, it’s worth noting that although there is currently no evidence that it steals data or contains malware, it looks more like a shell app used to inflate download numbers. But this is only based on preliminary tests by a few internet users; no cybersecurity company has conducted a complete analysis yet, and apps like this can swap out their content at any time through updates.
So just because it currently seems harmless doesn’t mean it will always be fine if you leave it installed. Anyone who accidentally installed the wrong thing should remember to delete it manually.
This store page currently shows a page not found message, and it appears to have been removed:
Source: KOCPC Chinese