Don't Fall Victim To The Crafty Crook Behind This Minecraft Mobile Scam App
December 26, 2012
Less than a week after we "featured" not one, but two fraudulent apps capitalizing on the success of a popular game, here comes another similarly shameless scam.
But while the aforementioned double whammy of App Store double-dealing used its semblance to Halo 4 to dupe customers, this other fake app uses the guise of Minecraft. In fact, it goes by the already deceiving name of Minecraft Mobile.
Certainly not the first app to pose as the official Minecraft - Pocket Edition game by Mojang, Minecraft Mobile isn't actually new.
After carrying out some App Store sleuthing, I found out that Minecraft Mobile entered the App Store back in September. But it did so as a different game under a different name: Gravitational Particles.
And it's this Gravitational Particles "game," which turns out to be some sort of a colorized visualizer, that greets unknowing customers when they finally open Minecraft Mobile.
As pointed out by App Store customer Irishbookworm, who apparently bought Minecraft Mobile for his son, in his one-star review:
Do not buy this game. It's not Minecraft. It's Gravitational Particles instead. Horrible! My son is very disappointed.Irishbookworm's rating is just one of the more than 150 one-star ratings received so far by Minecraft Mobile. On the other end of the spectrum, though, Minecraft Mobile has garnered more than 110 five-star ratings. But, as expected, these suspiciously commendatory ratings are also of dubious nature. Somehow, these ratings were submitted under full names, rather than under an unassuming username like Irishbookworm's. If this setup sounds familiar, it's because the same setup was also used in "promoting" the two fake Halo 4 games as well as the bogus Temple Rush: In Danger. So, do not buy Minecraft Mobile, which costs $2.99 and has gone on to be among the top 200 paid apps in the App Store. It's nothing more than a bait-and-switch scheme by a "developer" called Installous. See, even the developer's name is pinched from the name of the well-known jailbreak package that allows for the installation of unofficial iOS apps. And don't bother clicking that link to the developer's website; it contains a mere 404 error page. Recorded announcement: Buy Mojang's Minecraft - Pocket Edition instead. Even if, at $6.99, it costs $4 more than Minecraft Mobile. At least you'll be spending your money on the real thing. We thank AppAdvice reader Matthew for the tip! [gallery link="file" order="DESC"]
