Somewhere between the hope of knowing where a loved one is and the ache of suspecting someone is hiding something, a familiar human longing is being sold back to people by apps that cannot deliver it. Security researchers at Bitdefender have found that stalkerware-style apps promoted through TikTok ads, and listed on official app stores, promise to reveal locations, private messages and deleted photos, yet appear built mainly to collect subscription payments from those who download them. The episode sits within a long history of technology exploiting the desire to watch and be reassured, and i
TikTok Ads for Fake Stalkerware Apps Are Scamming Would-Be Snoops, Bitdefender Finds
Users paying for subscriptions under false pretences and people targeted by emotionally manipulative ads using unsettling AI imagery.
Ads promising spying powers that, if real, would likely be illegal
Mark
So the apps are scams, but the pitch is stalking. Why does that matter?
Mimi
Because the ads promise location tracking, private messages, hidden accounts and deleted photos from just a phone number. Bitdefender says the apps deliver none of it and instead push subscriptions.
Luke
Worth being clear: this is Bitdefender's research. We have its findings, not an independent audit or a response from the platforms or developers in what we've been given.
Mark
What did the code analysis show?
Mimi
One app that claimed to reveal what someone is doing was mostly advertising and billing software kits, with about 91 classes of its own code for a basic photo-stamping camera.
Luke
And the conclusion that it was built to monetise users is Bitdefender's inference from that. It's reasonable, but it is an inference.
Mark
The Lens AI numbers are striking.
Mimi
More than 3,000 ads in one month from the listed developer. It also used an icon resembling the 2019 Google Lens icon until 2023 on Google Play, and the iOS version kept it.
Luke
Note that figure is per Bitdefender, and it covers one month and one app. We don't know how many total apps or victims are involved.
Mark
What's still unknown?
Mimi
How ads for likely unlawful features keep passing ad review. Bitdefender itself says that's unclear.
Luke
Right, and there's no count of how much money victims lost. That gap is real.
Le Pouls
- Viewers are being drawn in by TikTok ads that promise to reveal a phone owner's location, messages and hidden accounts, and the pull of that promise is the source of the story's tension.
- Bitdefender's investigation found the apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store, where listings made none of the claims the advertisements did.
- Lens AI alone ran more than 3,000 ads in a single month, and its code suggests it exists to bill users rather than track anyone.
- Free trials are rolling into recurring charges, while high app ratings keep lending credibility to products that user complaints describe as failing.
- Platforms are now being pressed to explain how ads for likely unlawful features passed review, and how inflated ratings have persisted.
Somewhere between the hope of knowing where a loved one is and the ache of suspecting someone is hiding something, a familiar human longing is being sold back to people by apps that cannot deliver it. Security researchers at Bitdefender have found that stalkerware-style apps promoted through TikTok ads, and listed on official app stores, promise to reveal locations, private messages and deleted photos, yet appear built mainly to collect subscription payments from those who download them. The episode sits within a long history of technology exploiting the desire to watch and be reassured, and it raises an uncomfortable question about how such promises were allowed to reach so many viewers. The matter is now directed at the platforms that carried the ads and hosted the apps.
The pitch is simple and intimate: enter a phone number and see where someone is, read their private messages, uncover their hidden accounts, recover photos they thought were gone. Ads making these promises have been running on TikTok, and according to new research from the security company Bitdefender, the apps behind them do none of it.
Bitdefender found the apps on official storefronts, including Google Play and, in at least one case, the Apple App Store. The store listings did not repeat the claims made in the TikTok ads. What the apps appear built to do is collect subscription revenue, through "free" trials that quietly turn into charges and billing arrangements that keep recurring.
The company also noted an uncomfortable irony: if the advertised features actually worked, they would likely be illegal in many jurisdictions. The scam is sold on the promise of something unlawful, aimed at people who believe they are buying it. The ads themselves are designed to provoke emotion, sometimes with unsettling AI-generated imagery meant to shock.
One app, Lens AI, appeared in more than 3,000 ads in a single month, and its icon closely resembled the 2019 Google Lens icon for several years. In another case, an app claiming to reveal a person's activity from their phone number turned out to be mostly advertising and billing software, with only around 91 classes of its own, powering a basic photo-stamping camera.
Many of these apps still carry high overall ratings, even as users complain that the features never work and that trials led to unexpected charges. Those scores lend credibility to products the reviews themselves describe as failing.
The human cost falls on people who pay under false pretences and on viewers pulled in by ads built to provoke them. Bitdefender says it remains unclear how such ads continue to run and pass platform review. That question, along with the persistence of inflated ratings, is now directed at the platforms involved.
The pitch, as Bitdefender describes it, is simple: type in a phone number and see where its owner is, read their private messages, find their hidden accounts, recover their deleted photos. Ads making those promises have been running on TikTok, and according to new research from the security company, the apps behind them do none of it.
Bitdefender said it found the apps on official storefronts, including Google Play and, in at least one case, the Apple App Store. The listings there did not make the claims the TikTok ads made. The apps, the company said, did not deliver the promised features. What they appear built to do is collect subscription revenue, through "free" trials that roll into charges and billing arrangements that keep recurring.
Bitdefender added a point that sits awkwardly beside the ads themselves: if the advertised features actually worked, they would likely be illegal in many jurisdictions. The scam, in other words, is being sold on the promise of something unlawful, aimed at people who believe they are buying it.
The researchers also described how the ads work on the viewer. They are designed to exploit emotions, Bitdefender said, and in some cases use unsettling AI-generated imagery for shock value.
One app, Lens AI, was promoted in more than 3,000 ads in a single month by the company listed as its developer. Bitdefender also reported that Lens AI used an icon closely resembling the 2019 Google Lens icon, from 2019 to 2023. The icon was later changed on Google Play but was kept on the iOS version.
In another case, an app advertised as able to reveal what someone is doing from their phone number turned out, on inspection, to be largely made up of advertising and billing software development kits. Its own code amounted to only around 91 classes, and it powered a basic photo-stamping camera. Bitdefender said this indicated the app was built to monetise its users rather than to track anyone.
The research also raised concerns about ratings. Several of the apps carried high overall scores even though user complaints said the features do not work and that "free" trials led to charges. Those scores can lend credibility to apps that the reviews themselves describe as failing.
The human cost falls on those who pay under false pretences, and on viewers targeted by ads built to provoke an emotional reaction. Bitdefender said it remains unclear how ads promoting features that would likely be unlawful in many places continue to run and pass platform ad review. That question, along with how inflated ratings persist, is now directed at the platforms involved.
Citations marquantes
It is unclear how ads promoting features that would likely be unlawful in many jurisdictions continue to run and pass platform ad review.— Bitdefender (paraphrased)
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