India on High Alert: Phone Farm Threat From Cybercriminals

Phone farms consist of numerous mobile phones connected to automation software to perform repetitive tasks on a large scale. These devices can be used to click on ads, inflate app usage statistics, generate fake likes and views, and carry out other fraudulent activities.

A phone farm is a physical location where criminals force repeat actions – such as ad views, clicks, registrations, installs, and in-app engagement – to create the illusion of legitimate activity, draining advertising budgets.

Cybercriminals are increasingly setting up phone farms to exploit various digital platforms for malicious activities. A phone farm is a collection of mobile devices used in bulk to automate and manipulate online actions, posing significant threats to businesses and individuals alike.
Modus of Operandi by the Cybercriminals by Using Phone Farms:
•    Ad Fraud: By automating clicks on ads, cybercriminals generate revenue through fraudulent ad impressions and clicks.
•    Social Media Manipulation: Phone farms can create fake engagement on social media posts, such as likes, shares, and follows, skewing analytics and influencing public perception.
•    App Store Rankings: Artificially inflating the number of downloads and positive reviews for apps to manipulate app store rankings.
•    Credential Stuffing: Automating login attempts across various platforms using stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to accounts.
Phone farms consist of numerous mobile phones connected to automation software to perform repetitive tasks on a large scale. These devices can be used to click on ads, inflate app usage statistics, generate fake likes and views, and carry out other fraudulent activities.

Businesses lose substantial amounts of money due to fraudulent ad impressions and clicks. Companies may incur higher costs for server bandwidth and storage due to artificial traffic generated by phone farms.

Second most important is, the automated credential stuffing can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive information. Increased risk of account takeovers and misuse of personal information.
3. Market Manipulation:

It results, Skewed engagement metrics and app rankings can mislead businesses and consumers, affecting decision-making processes. Going forward. Legitimate businesses may struggle to compete against artificially inflated metrics.

Ms. S Mohini Ratna - Editor VARINDIA