How to Detect Fraudulent Location in Mobile apps
Learn to Detect Fraudulent Location in Mobile apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.
Why Detect Fraudulent Location in Mobile Apps?
Detecting fraudulent locations in mobile apps is crucial for several compelling reasons, each tied to the integrity, utility, and security of mobile services:
1. Integrity of Location-Based Services: Many apps rely on accurate location data to provide services that are relevant to the user’s current geographical position. These could range from navigation and weather apps to social networking and dating apps that tailor content based on where the user is. If the location data is spoofed, it undermines the core functionality of these services, leading to a degraded user experience.
2. Security and Fraud Prevention: Fraudulent location data can be used to bypass geo-restrictions for content or services, to falsify activities in games, or to exploit location-based pricing strategies. It can also be a tool for stalking or other malicious activities. Detecting and preventing location spoofing helps maintain the security of the app and protects users from potential abuse.
3. Trust and Compliance: Users trust apps with their location data, assuming that this information will enhance the service they receive. If an app is easily manipulated through location spoofing, this trust is eroded, which can damage the app’s reputation and user base. Furthermore, compliance with legal and regulatory standards in many jurisdictions requires that apps handle location data accurately and securely.
4. Prevention of Unauthorized Access: Certain apps, especially those offering financial services or sensitive information, use location data as part of their authentication and access control mechanisms. Spoofed locations can lead to unauthorized access to these services, posing significant risks to both the service provider and the users.
In summary, detecting fraudulent location data is essential for protecting your platform and users from the risks of location fraud and ensuring that location-based actions, transactions, and interactions are based on the user’s true whereabouts.
How does Appdome Detect Fraudulent Location in Mobile Apps?
Appdome detects fraudulent locations in mobile apps by analyzing a range of signals to ensure the location provided by the OS is based on the user’s actual whereabouts. Here’s how Appdome’s specific features work together to safeguard location-based services against spoofing attempts:
1. Accelerometer and Location Mismatch: This method identifies inconsistencies between accelerometer data (which measures the device’s movement) and GPS location data. If the accelerometer indicates that the device is stationary but the GPS data shows the location changing, this discrepancy suggests that the location data may be spoofed.
2. Automatic Time Zone Off: (Only available for Android)—Since users can manually set their device’s time zone, Appdome checks for mismatches between the device’s set time zone and its reported location. A mismatch could indicate an attempt to manipulate the location data, making this feature critical in identifying location spoofing attempts on Android devices.
3. Time Zone and Location Mismatch: Expanding on the time zone analysis, this feature uses geocoding—a process that converts physical addresses into geographical coordinates—to verify the consistency between the device’s GPS data or country ISO code and its time zone.
Warning! The Time Zone and Location Mismatch feature provides no guarantees of accuracy. Results are based on estimation and may not always be accurate.
4. Geo-code to GPS mismatch: Network mismatches are a strong indicator of potential location spoofing attempts, where fraudsters manipulate their GPS coordinates to gain unauthorized access to services, promotions, or content intended for a different region. Geo-code to GPS mismatch combats this issue by comparing GPS-based location with the location information derived from the currently registered cellular operator or nearby cell towers.
Warning! As per Android guidelines, OS Geocoding services provide no guarantees of availability or accuracy. Results are a best guess and are not guaranteed to be meaningful or correct. Do NOT use this API for any safety-critical or regulatory compliance purposes.
Together, these features form a robust framework for detecting and preventing location spoofing in mobile apps. By leveraging data from the device’s accelerometer, analyzing time zone settings, and employing geocoding techniques, Appdome provides a comprehensive solution to ensure that location-based services operate on accurate and reliable location data, thereby protecting the app’s integrity and its users’ trust.
Prerequisites for Using Detect Fraudulent Location:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Fraudulent Location , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for Detect Fraudulent Location
- Mobile App (.ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
Detect Fraudulent Location on Mobile apps using Appdome
On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect Fraudulent Location without an SDK or gateway:
-
Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.
-
Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System
-
Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
-
Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
-
Detect Fraudulent Location Compatible With: Obj-C, C+, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more
-
-
Build the feature: Detect Fraudulent Location.
-
Building Detect Fraudulent Location by using Appdome’s DEV-API:
-
Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Fraudulent Location feature as shown below:
-
Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Detect Fraudulent Location feature via Appdome Console, to add the Detect Fraudulent Location feature to this Fusion Set.
-
Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set, as shown in Figure 1 above, and get the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below):
Figure 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Cirlce CI or other system:
-
Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
-
Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
-
Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Fraudulent Location feature
Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required). -
-
Building the Detect Fraudulent Location feature via Appdome Console
To build the Detect Fraudulent Location protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.
-
Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Geo Compliance Tab > Geo Compliance section.
-
When you select the Detect Fraudulent Location you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Fraudulent Location
Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Fraudulent Location protection
-
Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect Fraudulent Location:
-
Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense
If the Threat-Events™ setting is cleared (not selected). Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Detect Fraudulent Location.
-
Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection
When this setting is used, Appdome detects fraudulent location present in the mobile device and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect Fraudulent Location Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
-
Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense
When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Fraudulent Location (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect Fraudulent Location Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
-
-
Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
-
Congratulations! The Detect Fraudulent Location protection is now added to the mobile app -
Using Threat-Events™ for Fraudulent Location Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps
Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Fraudulent Location is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Fraudulent Location in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Fraudulent Location shown below.
The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Fraudulent Location are:
| Threat-Event™ Elements | Detect Fraudulent Location Method Detail |
|---|---|
| Appdome Feature Name | Detect Fraudulent Location |
| Threat-Event Mode | |
| OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE | Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging. |
| ON, IN-APP DETECTION | Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce). |
| ON, IN-APP DEFENSE | Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection). |
| Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check | |
| Visible in ThreatScope™ | |
| Developer Parameters for Detecting Fraudulent Location Threat-Event™ | |
| Threat-Event NAME | FraudulentLocationDetected |
| Threat-Event DATA | reasonData |
| Threat-Event CODE | reasonCode |
| Threat-Event REF | 6801 |
| Threat-Event SCORE | |
| currentThreatEventScore | Current Threat-Event score |
| threatEventsScore | Total Threat-events score |
| Threat-Event Context Keys | |
|---|---|
| message | Message displayed for the user on event |
| externalID | The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events |
| osVersion | OS version of the current device |
| deviceModel | Current device model |
| deviceManufacturer | The manufacturer of the current device |
| fusedAppToken | The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app |
| kernelInfo | Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine. |
| carrierPlmn | PLMN of the device |
| deviceID | Current device ID |
| reasonCode | Reason code of the occured event |
| buildDate | Appdome fusion date of the current application |
| devicePlatform | OS name of the current device |
| carrierName | Carrier name of the current device |
| updatedOSVersion | Is the OS version up to date |
| deviceBrand | Brand of the device |
| deviceBoard | Board of the device |
| buildUser | Build user |
| buildHost | Build host |
| sdkVersion | Sdk version |
| timeZone | Time zone |
| deviceFaceDown | Is the device face down |
| locationLong | Location longitude conditioned by location permission |
| locationLat | Location latitude conditioned by location permission |
| locationState | Location state conditioned by location permission |
| wifiSsid | Wifi SSID |
| wifiSsidPermissionStatus | Wifi SSID permission status |
With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Fraudulent Location is detected.
The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect Fraudulent Location:
x
IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter();intentFilter.addAction("FraudulentLocationDetected");BroadcastReceiver threatEventReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() { public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { String message = intent.getStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user String reasonData = intent.getStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause String reasonCode = intent.getStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code String currentThreatEventScore = intent.getStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score String threatEventsScore = intent.getStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score String variable = intent.getStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Any other event specific context key // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...) }};if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) { registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter, Context.RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED);} else { registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter);}x
val intentFilter = IntentFilter()intentFilter.addAction("FraudulentLocationDetected")val threatEventReceiver = object : BroadcastReceiver() { override fun onReceive(context: Context?, intent: Intent?) { var message = intent?.getStringExtra("message") // Message shown to the user var reasonData = intent?.getStringExtra("reasonData") // Threat detection cause var reasonCode = intent?.getStringExtra("reasonCode") // Event reason code var currentThreatEventScore = intent?.getStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore") // Current threat event score var threatEventsScore = intent?.getStringExtra("threatEventsScore") // Total threat events score var variable = intent?.getStringExtra("<Context Key>") // Any other event specific context key // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...) }}if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) { registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter, Context.RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED)} else { registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter)}let center = NotificationCenter.default
center.addObserver(forName: Notification.Name("FraudulentLocationDetected"), object: nil, queue: nil) { (note) in
guard let usrInf = note.userInfo else {
return
}
let message = usrInf["message"]; // Message shown to the user
let reasonData = usrInf["reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
let reasonCode = usrInf["reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
let currentThreatEventScore = usrInf["currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
let threatEventsScore = usrInf["threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
let variable = usrInf["<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName: @"FraudulentLocationDetected" object:nil queue:nil usingBlock:^(NSNotification *org_note) {
__block NSNotification *note = org_note;
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void) {
NSString *message = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"message"]; // Message shown to the user
NSString *reasonData = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
NSString *reasonCode = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
NSString *currentThreatEventScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
NSString *threatEventsScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
NSString *variable = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
}];
const { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;
const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);
function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) {
NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action);
aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);
}
export function registerToAllEvents() {
registerToDevEvent(
"FraudulentLocationDetected",
(userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo))
var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"] // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"] // Total threat events score
var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"] // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
);
}
RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter("FraudulentLocationDetected"));
class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
public override void OnReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
String message = intent.GetStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
}
NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver(
(NSString)"FraudulentLocationDetected", // Threat-Event Identifier
delegate (NSNotification notification)
{
var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message"); // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("<Context Keys>"); // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
window.broadcaster.addEventListener("FraudulentLocationDetected", function(userInfo) {
var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore // Total threat events score
var variable = userInfo.<Context Key> // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
xxxxxxxxxximport 'dart:async';import 'package:flutter/material.dart';import 'package:flutter/services.dart';class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget { const PlatformChannel({super.key}); State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();}class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> { static const String _eventChannelName = 'FraudulentLocationDetected'; // Replace with your EventChannel name static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName); void initState() { super.initState(); _eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError); } void _onEvent(Object? event) { setState(() { // Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure var eventData = event as Map; // Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event var externalID = eventData['externalID']; // Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore']; // Current threat event score String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore']; // Total threat events score // Any other event specific context key String variable = eventData['<Context Key>']; }); } // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)}Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Detect Fraudulent Location. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.
Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect Fraudulent Location
After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:
- Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps
- Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores
- Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.
If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.
Thank you!
Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.
