Fake Adblock Plus Chrome Extension Was Distributed via Chrome Web Store

The thing about Adblock Plus is that it is great for users who feel like they shouldn’t have to look at ads as they read their favorite websites, but terrible for publishers who rely on the money earned from those ads to keep the virtual doors open. Despite how publishers feel, Adblock Plus is one of the most popular Chrome extensions out there. If you downloaded the Adblock plus extension for your computer recently, you need to have a good look at what you installed.

Word is that about 37,000 Chrome users were fooled into downloading a fake Adblock Plus extension. Somehow that fake extension made it through the Google verification process and was available to download in the Chrome store alongside the real extension. Google removed the fake extension after SwiftOnSecurity tweeted about it reports Engadget.

According to SwiftOnSecurity the fake extension was published by a “fraudulent developer who clones popular name and spams keywords.” There is no indication right now of exactly how this fake extension managed to slip past the vetting process at Google.

One user who installed the fake ABP extension noted in his review that as soon as he installed it he was getting invasive ads that open lots of tabs. For now, the only real fix for users is to uninstall your Adblock Plus extension and reinstall the real one if you have this issue.