New digital trap: "Smart apps" steal money from job seekers with tempting electronic tricks.
Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special
**Arab Gulf - Follow-ups:** Cybersecurity experts and artificial intelligence specialists are warning of malicious software spreading within applications downloaded from "Google Play," most notably a program called "X-Notice," which targets stealing money from job seekers. This smart software works by downloading certain applications that users search for jobs in the oil and gas sector, which are downloaded from the "Google Play" application, dedicated to programs and applications that run on the "Android" operating system. Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity expert Ahmed Abdel Fattah says that "X-Notice" is one of the most dangerous artificial intelligence programs that can steal bank accounts and private data from electronic wallets. He explained that the strange thing about applications that carry programs to hack phones, accounts, electronic wallets, and bank data is that they are downloaded from "Google Play," which is promoted as one of the most secure globally. **Job Seekers** According to the Egyptian expert, job seekers in the oil and gas sector in Arab countries may become prey in a matter of minutes to applications that devour their money and steal it quickly, especially since the applications that carry the "X-Notice" software require subscriptions that are paid with bank data. He added, "These applications can steal complete bank data, giving hackers the opportunity to make transfers from users' bank accounts, in addition to making purchases from major global stores, even if there is an "OTP" code, because the site requests it as part of the subscription." He pointed out that this software is completely new and is still under surveillance, as it uses advanced artificial intelligence programs, and therefore it is difficult to detect, even through Google Play filters that work to exclude suspicious applications or those that carry hidden hacking programs. For her part, cybersecurity expert Nasma Hassan said that a recent report issued by "Zscaler," a company specializing in cloud security, revealed a surprise regarding the "Google Play" platform, as it revealed the download of 42 million pirated applications in just one year, which indicates a security disaster. She explained that the report covered the period between June 2024 and May 2025, while this number is expected to rise to 60 million downloads during the past 6 months, indicating that Google needs to review its security systems. Nasma Hassan revealed the existence of software that is manufactured and managed through artificial intelligence programs, which can fake applications and lead phishing campaigns, with the aim of stealing bank data, to steal huge amounts of users' money, without the need for traditional hacking operations. She explained that targeting job seekers in the oil and gas sector in the Gulf countries in particular has led to a large number of users falling victim, especially in Egypt, as large numbers are looking for such opportunities and paying subscriptions to applications downloaded from "Google Play" in exchange for finding jobs. **Most Prominent "Malware"** Regarding the most prominent of these software manufactured by artificial intelligence, she said that there are 3 types that are the most dangerous, the first of which is "Anatsa," which stole data from more than 831 institutions and digital currency platforms, and the second is "Void," which targets "Android TV Box" devices, which managed to infect more than 1.6 million devices running older versions of Android. As for the third and most dangerous software, according to the cybersecurity expert, it is the "X-Notice" software, which targets job seekers in the oil and gas sectors and steals their bank accounts by claiming to register subscriptions at reduced expenses, through a hidden interface represented in employment applications. For his part, Emad Mikhail, one of Google's developers in the Middle East, said that software designed with artificial intelligence can remain dormant inside applications and is not detected during uploading and study, and does not reveal itself until after downloading and activating certain features inside the application by the user. He confirmed that Google Play is facing crises like these in light of the development of smart software and electronic hacking programs recently, but it is still the most secure option for downloading applications, due to the high percentage of security in it and the experts who are working on developing it all the time. He added that the specialists' warnings against absolute trust in any applications are completely valid, and personally, I am still cautious about unknown or new applications, and I do not download them from the store until after studying them extensively, and I stay away completely from applications developed by individuals without companies, or that are similar in design to famous applications. Mikhail advised users of applications downloaded from "Google Play" to ensure the names of the developers, in addition to reading the ratings that any application receives before installing it on their Android devices, in addition to not granting permissions to access information to untrusted applications.
