After noticing a handful of “anomalies in app behavior and traffic patterns” in late 2024, said IAS’ head of fraud protection Scott Pierce, the IAS Threat Lab instigated a thorough investigation of app behavior. What the team found was a sophisticated ad fraud scheme executed by fraudsters operating across various developer accounts. 

The operation, dubbed Vapor Threat, exploited ad networks to serve full-screen video ads on more than 180 apps that looked like legitimate health and fitness apps or utilities-type apps like alarms and flashlights—but were stripped of their functionality and then used solely to milk ad revenues. 

It’s worth noting that the report comes from IAS, which sells anti-fraud tools to advertisers, such as pre-bid fraud mitigation tools, which shield them from bidding on impressions originating from these fraudulent apps.