Android Malware Scammer Who Pocketed $3.9 Million Busted: Symantec

If you’re a fan of Poker, you’ll recognize the name of Masaaki Kagawa. For those who who aren’t into poker, he’s an avid and successful poker tournament player who won more than $1 million in worldwide tournaments. He also had a side hobby. He ran operation that dealt in Android Marware. Mr. Kagawa’s operation began around September, 2012 and ceased in April, 2013 when authorities in Tokyo raided the company office. Symantec confirmed around 150 domains were registered to host malicious Android apps during this span. The group was able to collect approximately 37 million email addresses from around 810,000 Android devices. As a result, the company earned approximately $3.9 million US dollars by running a fake online dating service called Sakura site. Spam used to lure victims to the dating site was sent to the addresses collected by the malware.

If you want more detail about Kagawa and how Symantec helped to take him down and stop this threat to Android users click here. It shows how security companies like Symantec is making the digital world safe for all.

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