Threat researchers discover ad campaigns that lure users into recurring subscriptions through misleading promises of ads that violate privacy rights
Security researchers have found TikTok advertisements promoting mobile apps with claims of covert surveillance — including locating people from a phone number and accessing private messages — even though the advertised apps appear to offer no such capability.
The advertisement campaigns are designed to lure users into subscriptions rather than deliver working stalkerware.
The ad content promises to reveal deleted photos, hidden online accounts, a target’s GPS location, WhatsApp messages, or whether a partner was cheating. Some use AI-generated imagery and openly invoked stalking scenarios, including a demon asking children what they knew about their mothers.
The misleading apps being promoted fall into two groups: AI-driven “people search” services, and tracking apps. Their associated ads typically redirect users to official app stores, where the listings describe ordinary utilities such as photo editing, GPS-tagged photography, or parental controls rather than surveillance. Two examples of such apps are:
- GPS Cam: Timestamp & Location, has been advertised with claims that entering a phone number into the app could reveal another person’s activities. Yet, full analysis of version 1.1.8 found only camera and photo-organization features: GPS and timestamp stamps, maps, templates, and an editor. Much of that functionality is already available in Android. The researchers said they could not determine who created or paid for the ad.
- Lens AI, which is part of a campaign with more than 3,000 ads in one month. The app’s Google Play icon resembled Google Lens’s former icon, and user reviews have complained that it did not work, and that a supposedly free trial had resulted in charges.
According to the Bitdefender researchers that discovered the campaign, the apparent business model relies on small upfront payments and recurring subscriptions that users may fail to cancel. Many reviews of the misleading ads and apps have described non-functional features and illegitimate fees, while some of the apps actually retain high ratings despite reviews with signs of automation or inauthenticity.
The firm has urged TikTok and app stores to scrutinize promotions that promise covert tracking or access to private communications.
An example of a misleading advertisement that points to spurious stalkerware
