‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ gamers targeted by App Store scammers

Baldurs Gate 3 Promo Cover – Image Credit: Larian

Fraudsters continue to distribute fraudulent applications App Storewith the latest discovery being a fake port of the popular game Baldur’s Gate 3.

The popularity of major game releases can often lead to gamers hoping for a mobile version of the game in the future. However, this also opens the door for attackers to take advantage of the situation.

Baldur’s Gate 3 this is a massive AAA release, but Larian Studios has no plans generally transfer the role-playing blockbuster to mobile devices. However, video gamer reports There is a fraudulent app on the App Store that preys on fans of the game.

Titled Baldur’s Gate 3 – Mobile Turuk, A fraudulent app allegedly created by “Dmitry Turuk” appears on the App Store as a seemingly legitimate offering. The description states that players will be able to create characters or use pre-made “Origin” characters with “their own unique storyline and motivations.”

To further create the illusion of authenticity, the fake app uses official screenshots from the real game, but with a fake mobile device control UI placed on top.

Players who like the app end up downloading it for free, but are presented with a page that requires a subscription. Priced at $29.99 for 30 days, it promises access to the full game, but it doesn’t actually have that option.

Even worse, the terms of service state that it collects user data, including the user’s IP address.

Grand Theft App Store

This isn’t the only big game being used to trick players into parting with their money.

GTA 6 is a highly anticipated game still in development at Rockstar Games. Give a signal to the scam app called GTA 6 mobile/car games 2024 from “Zeynep Uslu”.

Again, it offers glossy screenshots taken from GTA Vcomplete with mobile interface. However, the description refers to a game called “ParkMastery: Ultimate Challenge”.

While the fake game is listed as being free to download without any in-app purchases, that doesn’t necessarily stop the developer from adding expensive subscriptions to trick players again.

Constant problem

Although Apple has an App Store review process designed to protect the App Store from such apps, fraudulent apps often slip through and become available for download.

Barring a strange decision by the companies behind the two major franchises, these apps are almost certainly breaking the rules. Best practices for reviewing apps in the store.

Section 5.2.1 of the Intellectual Property section tells developers that they cannot use third-party materials such as trademarks, copyrighted works, or patented ideas without permission. They also cannot include “misleading, false or imitative representations, names or metadata” in the app set or developer name.

These apps won’t work for long, of course, now that Apple has learned of the bug. But this is an ongoing problem that regularly reappears in different forms.

For example, early in the development of ChatGPT in 2023 Poppy The App Store was flooded ChatGPT scam appsusing logos similar to OpenAI and ChatGPT, as well as keywords and other iconography.

In 2024 it was discovered that Russian banks circumvented sanctions by hiding their applications in another, more legal one. In some cases, Western iPhone App Store users and reviewers will see a lending app, while users in Russia will see a banking app instead.

Naturally, Apple has made changes Management has been reviewing the App Store for years to make things safer and limit what’s available to users, but it’s not an easy battle to win. Considering the huge number of applications reviewed by the company, it is almost guaranteed that some bad actors will go through the network.

AppleInsider recommends gamers to avoid installing suspicious applications like the ones above on their devices. If they paid for a product or subscription in a fraudulent app, Apple has ways request a refund.