Beware! Your Android smartphone might get affected by this ad fraud scheme
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Fraudsters targetting Android smartphones is a well-known phenomenon and the recent one that got attention is a scam where hidden video ads drained the batteries of Android smartphone.
Now what is worrying about the whole scam is that those video ads are hidden and hence you can’t see them. These ads have the potential to target any banner ads with which it pretends to be in a symbiotic relationship. But that is far from the truth. While the app developer is earning only a few bucks by displaying banner ads to his customers, the fraudster is earning huge without even paying the app developer his due.
The video ads running in the background of the banner app is in autoplay mode, meaning that as long as you stay on the page it keeps playing without your knowledge which in turn helps the fraudster to generate huge revenue. And in the whole process, you become a victim as it sucks up the power of your smartphone, leaving you to wonder what might be the cause.
According to DoubleVerify, a digital measurement company, at least 60 million ad calls being made for fraudulent video ads per month. DoubleVerify’s VP of product management told BuzzFeed News that the fraudsters “did a very good job at hiding and obfuscating what they were doing” and were “quite sophisticated in the thinking behind how they can monetize that
inventory.”
Source: BuzzFeed News
