The iPhone jailbreaking community is currently at work on a new jailbreak tool called Checkra1n, and a current scam pretending to offer the software baits users to a click-fraud site instead. PC Mag reported that Checkra1n is still in development and when ready will allow users to jailbreak their iPhones using the recently discovered checkm8 vulnerability. Jailbreaking an iPhone lets users modify the OS and install otherwise forbidden third-party apps. The scammer has created a malicious website called checkrain that claims users can download the tool. Clicking the download button, however, only installs a phony app on the users’ phones. When they open the app, it secretly takes them to a website that runs a misleading animation, making it look like the jailbreak tool is being installed on their device. At the end of the animation, users are presented with a run of third-party apps and prompted to install at least two of them to “finalize” the software download. For every third-party app users click, the scammer makes money. Users ultimately do not receive any jailbreaking software from the process. Avast Security Evangelist Luis Corrons says the entire operation is a bad idea. “Apart from the scams, jailbreaking an iPhone, although tempting for some users, is risky. It removes a number of fail-safes built into iOS that protect users and their phones from attacks.”
