Recently, an app has been causing discussion on social media, especially among cybersecurity experts. This is because, in exchange for monitoring the number of daily steps of its users, the app promises to reward them with digital currencies that can be exchanged for real money. However, according to developers, the application may be a fraud.
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Knowing the app
Available for both iOS and Android devices, Sweatcoin is in the top 1 ranking of most downloaded apps. Because of this, the company responsible for developing the app announced that it reached more than 1 million users earlier this month. This popularity is the result of a series of viral videos on TikTok, which introduced the new application to users.
There, the content producers stated that it would be possible to withdraw the money obtained after inviting a certain amount of friends to register for the service. Unfortunately, this is not true. After all, the money raised in Sweatcoin, as it is not real, cannot be withdrawn.
How are the steps worth money?
The developers claim that the purpose of the app is to encourage physical activity in users through remuneration. Therefore, through integration with applications such as Google Fit and Apple Health, which are capable of counting the number of daily steps, Sweatcoin exchanges this data for virtual coins.
With them, individuals can buy the famous “gift cards”, guarantee discounts in some stores or even make charitable donations. However, despite being verified and working with data protection laws, it may draw the attention of criminal groups and cyber hackers.
In this case, the theft of information can be worth a lot of money on the black market, such as credit card number and CPF, or even opening ghost companies. Therefore, the possibility that the company uses this program to exchange the data registered in its bank is not ruled out.