OnePlus 2 smartphones sold without invite are found to have malware
Unavailability of OnePlus 2 smartphones make users buy it through unofficial means putting them at risk
When the Chinese company OnePlus had rolled out its next-gen flagship killer smartphone OnePlus 2 more than a month ago, it had promised that the device would be easily available than its OnePlus One predecessor.
However, it continues to remain difficult to get your hands on the OnePlus 2. As the company still relies on the same invite-based system, it is turning out to be a herculean task to get your hands on the invite.
Recently, OnePlus founder Carl Pei, apologized outright for the badly carried out OnePlus 2 launch, saying that they “messed up the launch of the OnePlus 2.”
As a result, some angry customers started looking for other means to get their hands on a OnePlus 2 unit. When KSP, Israel’s largest digital store declared that they were selling the smartphone without the annoying invites, they were thrilled to no bounds.
However, those purchasing via the retail store received something that they did not expect: OnePlus 2s with pre-loaded malware, as reported by Geek Time.
According to a Geek Time source who bought a OnePlus 2 through KSP, said that while using Google Chrome on the device, he would be automatically redirected to other sites with the word “tracking” in them or a site called “global.mytracker” before giving permission to access the website he requested.
He discovered four potential threats after running the AVG anti-virus software app on the device. Of the four, two were apps that could be uninstalled and the others were by default embedded in pre-installed applications on the OnePlus 2, mainly the Browser and Fun Weather. As the apps were baked into the system, the source was unable to uninstall them.
When Geek Time reached out to the OnePlus support forum, an administrator replied that “neither of those apps come installed on a global device running OxygenOS bought directly” from OnePlus and official distributors.
The same problem have also been encountered by the users in the U.S. who have purchased the same smartphone through online retailer, Gearbest, according to a thread on Reddit. The solution provided on the thread is to carry out an entire operating system reinstall to get rid of the malware.
Submitted by stev1212
OnePlus and its official distributor in Israel, both are suggesting to not buy the OnePlus 2 through unofficial method.
While there is no clarity as to how these phones have got corrupted, it’s unlikely that it is done by the manufacturer. That leaves us to place the blame on the third-party retailers or some other parties that put malware in the production line somewhere.
Same here. I\ve got the Fun Weather Trojan app in my “brand new” Xiaomi Redmi Note 2. I bought it from Aliexpress and it came preinstalled with malware. That’s so offensive. I am not getting it for free, it costs money! I am very disappointed, because I really trusted both xiaomi and aliexpress. But I have learned my lesson. No more Chinese crap!