The makers of the Grand Theft Auto series have sold millions of games while making billions of dollars because (virtual) crime is fun. Robbing stores and beating up random bystanders in the street is entertaining, in a video game.

But in the real world, crimes are much less enjoyable, especially if you are the victim of one. GTA fans might learn this lesson the hard way if they fall prey to this week's mobile threat. The researchers at Malwarebytes have tipped us off to a fake "GTA 3" Android app that's more interested in stealing Internet traffic than having players steal cars.

Mean Streets

The app presents itself as GTA 3, but it's actually known as Android/Trojan.Clicker.gta. It can be found in various third-party markets. Suffice it to say, Rockstar Games had nothing to do with its creation. The lack of an icon should clue users in that there's no game to play. Once installed, the app displays an initial window that users can dismiss, but after that it runs as a background service named "System Alert." It's hard to even identify, let alone remove. A boot receiver makes sure the app keeps reloading once its host phone is rebooted.

Like a Liberty City carjacker, from there the app snatches Internet traffic and drives it to adult themed websites without the user's consent. The Trojan fetches these URLs by connecting to a Command and Control Server. Malwarebytes explained that "clicker" behavior like this could be used for a variety of malicious purposes. The automated bot traffic could artificially boost ad revenue. The adult websites the app pushes traffic toward could be pushing their own malware like Ransomware and other Trojans. The app's relatively low profile makes it that much more dangerous. As players of real GTA games know, the cops only come after you if your crimes are too obvious.

Poorly Played

Video games make up a huge segment of mobile software, so this fake GTA 3 app isn't the first time hackers have tried to con unsuspecting gamers. Last year, fake versions of gaming juggernauts like Assassin's Creed and Minecraft promised players big discounts for popular titles while actually giving them Trojans instead. Sometimes these apps claim to be pirated versions of the originals to try and explain their suspiciously low prices and general sketchiness. Unfortunately, because a lot of people downloading mobile games are children, they are more likely to fall for these schemes on Android devices without parental controls. But when it comes to M-rated GTA 3, kids shouldn't even be playing the genuine article.

The best way to avoid this false GTA 3 app, and most Android malware, is to exclusively download apps from the Google Play Store. On there you'll find the actual Android version of Grand Theft Auto III along with countless other legitimate, harmless apps. Meanwhile, check out products from Malwarebytes and Editors' Choice winners Avast and Bitdefender for any other Android security needs.

Don't let this fake GTA take you for a ride.