More than 2 thousand vulnerabilities have been found in popular mobile applications.

An analysis of the top 100 most downloaded applications in the segment of ads and online services revealed more than 2,000 vulnerabilities, of which over 500 are classified as critical and highly dangerous, AppSec.Sting told Izvestia.

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Criminals create fake websites and lure users.

"Gaps in internal data open up opportunities for hackers to launch massive phishing attacks, fake notifications, and offers to pay for non-existent services. As a result, instead of a house by the sea, the user risks being left without housing and without funds," the company noted.

Fraudsters often disguise themselves as support staff and, through social engineering, convince victims to change their password or undergo "verification." Due to the vulnerabilities of mobile applications, the user, without suspecting anything, may lose access to the account and even money, they said.

The editors found people online who were faced with a similar problem. For example, a company that has been working in the field of music services for more than five years has lost access to its business account in one of these applications. In the spring of 2025, her profile was suddenly renamed, all ads were deleted, and when she tried to log in, her phone and email were no longer suitable. Instead of the cover band's services, flower sales ads appeared on the page, its representative told one of the forums.

According to him, the scammers took advantage of a vulnerability in the system: email addresses were not completely masked and could be easily guessed. Knowing the address, the attackers contact the support service and gain access to someone else's account. The company still managed to restore the account, but just an hour later it was blocked by the application again, and attempts to withdraw money from the account or delete it to create a new one were unsuccessful.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Tenacity of hands: more than 2 thousand vulnerabilities were found in the top 100 applications of ads and services