Fake apps on App Store trouble Chinese logistics firm  

德邦物流的烦恼：AppStore现“李鬼”版公司APP

在蓬勃发展的同时，APP遭遇着安全性的拷问：时下第三方利益方正通过盗版、数据篡改、山寨等方式，导致用户在使用时遭遇山寨APP甚至“有毒”的APP。这些非官方APP甚至已潜入苹果的AppStore。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Two fake apps under the name of Deppon Logistics have appeared on Apple's App Store, posing risks to careless users as well as problems for the company.

The Shanghai-based Chinese logistics firm said the two apps claiming to be the official company apps appeared on the App Store in November and in January.

Many people have called the company's customer hotline in the past several months and said their packages were picked up by express deliverymen after orders were placed using the fake apps, but they couldn't find any tracking information on the website.

A staffer at Deppon Logistics told the National Business Daily that the company had not released any apps, as most of their clients are enterprises that usually place orders on computers, not mobile phones.

Zhang Yi, CEO of Shenzhen-based market research firm iiMedia, said the app store demands legal papers if a company wants to release an official app, but they're not required for individual developers.

The fake apps' developer, who left a Hubei mobile phone number, denied that his actions amounted to fraud and said he only intended to make money by selling the apps to Deppon Logistics.

Deppon Logistics has made contact with the developer's service center on the app store but failed to convince them to remove the fake apps. Instead they shifted responsibility to the legal department and refused to provide more information.

The company is also worried that any of their real apps in the future may not be allowed to enter the app store.

Fake apps are also popping up on the Android marketplace, National Business Daily said, adding that a number of fake apps using similar names and logos of the popular game Plants vs. Zombies were found.

Zhao Yu, manger of Beijing-based Bangcle Tech Co., said downloaders' accounts information will be at risk if a fake app is planted with a spyware or virus, which is a possibility in the mobile Internet industry.

He said he once conducted a survey among developers at a mobile Internet forum, and half of them admitted that their apps were deciphered, reverse engineered or planted with a virus.

The official app of China Construction Bank was cloned and planted with a virus, Zhao added.