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More scammers exploiting Minecraft

It wasn't so long ago that Minecraft was connected to a scareware campaign.

And today, researchers from IT security firm ESET have reported another series of misuse of the popular gaming app.

Almost a million users have been tricked into downloading 87 fake Minecraft mods on the Google Play store that led to gamers being subjected to aggressive ads and scam activity, according to the official analysis available on ESET's news page Welivesecurity.com.

There are 14 such ad-displaying mods, which have been downloaded about 80,000 times, ESET reported.

More worryingly, ESET reported there were 73 instances of users being re-directed to scam websites, where 910,000 people downloaded a mod with scam activity.

Once launched, the apps display a screen with a download button which when clicked, will not download any mods. It instead redirects the user to a website opened in a browser and displays all kinds of obtrusive content.

To prevent getting tricked by fake apps and malware, always opt for official app markets, said ESET malware researcher Lukas Stefanko.

"Be extra cautious when downloading third-party apps offering additional functions to existing applications.

"It also helps to check the popularity of the app by numbers of installs, ratings and, most importantly, content of reviews," he said.