Palworld warns players about mobile app fraud
Pocketpair, the developer of Palworld, cautioned its community against downloading any mobile apps posing as being officially related to the survival crafting hit via social media.
“There is no Palworld application for phones,” the studio emphasized. “Apps using names and product images such as ‘パルワールド‘ and ‘Palworld‘ are appearing on the AppStore and Google Play, but they are not affiliated with our company in any way.”
“We have reported this issue to Apple, which operates the App Store, and Google, which operates Google Play. Please be aware that downloading these apps may lead to the leakage of personal information stored on your smartphone or to fraud,” the warning concluded.
Pocketpair
Palworld’s phenomenal success seemingly attracted the usual crowd of scammers and fraudsters trying to profit from the hype in any way they can. That fake apps using official Palworld imagery and nomenclature have been able to make their way onto these stores so quickly once again highlights the weakness of Apple and Google’s screening mechanisms.
This is quite ironic because Apple has recently raged against new regulations imposed by the European Union that are forcing it to open its ecosystem on iOS to third-party app stores (which enables Epic Games to bring Fortnite back to iOS in the EU), warning users that these rules would make their experience less secure – perhaps more moderation and less throwing rocks in glass houses would help with that.
With over eight million sales in less than six days on Steam, which leaves out the title’s players on Xbox Game Pass, Palworld has been a massive success story with a large user base and a ton of eyes on it. With the player base of the game likely being on the younger side overall, it’s a prime target for data thiefs preying on unsuspecting users.
We don’t know if a Palworld mobile version will ever be made, so for now don’t download any app that claims to be related to the game and report it to the respective store’s authorities.
