A fake app has been identified that pretends to be the genuine setup app for Amazon’s Alexa assistant but isn’t what it claims to be. The app has managed to get around Apple’s strict vetting procedures for apps before they’re listed on the App Store. Not only that, it has also managed to climb its way up the App Store charts.
9to5mac has spotted that this fake app has been able to climb to the #6 spot in the Utilities section of the App Store. It ranks #60 overall in the general section of the Top Free chart.
The app has also been reported by many users but it doesn’t seem like Apple has taken any action as of now to take down the app. It doesn’t serve ads when launched but does ask the user to provide an IP address, name, and the device serial number.
All of that information will be sent to a server that’s not controlled by Amazon so the potential for misuse of that information is high. This app may have been listed on the App Store for quite some time. It likely started climbing up the charts after a lot of people got an Alexa-enabled device over Christmas. Amazon did mention that Alexa-enabled devices did well over the holiday season.