Thought Your Money Was Safe in Banks Due to OTPs? This Android Malware Can Bypass it

Along with all of these features, ThreatFabric states that Alien can also read and identify notifications. As a result, it can read and recognise OTPs that you receive against any attempt to transact from your bank account, therefore completely bypassing the 2FA security that you had set up for your account. To do this, the malware seemingly deploys TeamViewer on infected or affected devices, which in turn give the attacker full control over your phone. In effect, this can completely compromise your bank accounts and credit cards, which makes it even more important for you to be vigilant about what you access or download on your phone.

According to ThreatFabric, some of the ways in which Alien might be spreading include spear-phishing (which uses apparently official email addresses to dupe users), or third party applications disguised for various purposes. Some of the apps that the malware tool is programmed to target include shockingly popular apps such as Snapchat, Telegram and Microsoft Outlook, as well as banking apps such as Capital One and Bank of America. As of now, it is not known whether the threat actors behind the Alien malware is targeting India, but ThreatFabric’s report pegs Europe, USA and Australia as the main victims.