This Scam App Wants to Trick Amazon Echo Users Into Taking a Huge Security Risk

Just by reading the app notes full of broken English, it's obvious that the app is a , especially when you read the last line that references being able to “talk to our support team.” The app support link also directs to a sketchy site claiming to help users find Alexa skills and set up their devices with just a call to a toll-free number.

And the app reviews confirm the worse. To see what happened first hand, I downloaded the app to see what would happen.

To start, I selected my device from a menu. On the next page, the app told me to plug in my and then wait for an orange light. The next screen is where the begins and asks users to press a button to download the Alexa app.

Each time I tried, the “download” stopped at 69 percent. (Scammers apparently have the sense of humor of a 14-year-old boy, go figure.)

A dialog box requested that I call the same toll-free number, 1-844-299-3555, scattered throughout the app.

I played along with the agent “Victor.” And in less than 60 seconds, he was asking me to log on to a site to begin the remote access process. I hung up. But someone less savvy might have fallen for the spiel.

At least one of the reviews stated that they went further than I did, and was told that there was a $5 per minute charge and that the “support” team needed to take remote control of a computer to finish the setup.

With control of a computer, the scammers could take much more than just money.

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