According to the team at Socket, that’s what’s been happening with over seven hundred fake VPN apps listed on the Chrome Web Store. Many of these extensions are free, some are paid, and some even pretend to be from trusted cybersecurity providers to lure users into handing over unrestricted access to their network and browser. This weekend, I dug through Socket’s report to find out exactly what was going on with these apps and how they managed to clear Web Store moderation without getting flagged by Google. I’ll share what I found and offer some tips to help you avoid these fake VPNs.
Socket is a cybersecurity platform with its own GitHub extension, firewall, and CLI to help developers analyze AI-written code for malicious behavior. When they looked into these Chrome extensions, they found that they were all published by a total of 40 developer accounts and had racked up 75,486 installs from users on the Chrome Web Store.
274 out of 525 extensions plagiarised the branding and logo of one among 66 reputed VPN platforms, including Proton VPN, Surfshark, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and TunnelBear.
Each extension pointed to a fixed SOCKS5 proxy without split tunneling or per-site controls, meaning that all your online activity would get routed through the same server once the extension was installed.
Many of these VPNs advertise a paid tier with private VPN servers in Japan, Singapore, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. But these servers do not exist, because their hostnames did not resolve when Socket ran a DNS lookup against them.
One of these extensions, Burёnka VPN, does not route traffic through any servers at all. It’s just a fake UI pretending to be a real app.
How fake VPNs got past Chrome’s review process
I’ve repeatedly found that the best laid cyber attacks aren’t necessarily the most sophisticated.
Even on the occasion that a developer’s account gets pulled from the store, opening a new developer account on the Chrome Web Store costs $5. Between the 40 developer accounts mentioned in the report, it barely cost $200 to publish over 700 fake extensions that reached an audience of tens of thousands.
It’s easy to dismiss these fake VPNs as a regional threat aimed at Russian internet users only, but you’d be wrong. Chrome’s Web Store policies paint a troubling pattern of lax security reviews, and the same fake VPN playbook could be adapted to target citizens in the U.S., UK, EU, or anywhere else in the world. In fact, Google itself issued a critical warning in 2025, speaking of similar fake VPN activity on the Play Store for Android users.
How to spot a fake VPN browser extension
Install extensions by following a link directly from the VPN provider’s official website, not the search bar on Web Store or Google Play.
Before you install a Chrome Web Store extension, look past the app listing and user reviews to the developer account tied to that app as well. Check if the account is officially associated with the VPN provider and see if Web Store reviews flag security concerns on their other apps too.
Run a DNS leak check while your VPN is on to make sure that it’s working properly, not merely concealing your IP address but also encrypting your DNS queries. If either your IP address, general location, or internet service provider (ISP) shows up in the test results, that’s a red flag.
Hence then, the article about hundreds of fake vpns are flooding the chrome web store was published today ( ) and is available on Live Hacker ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Hundreds of Fake VPNs Are Flooding the Chrome Web Store )
Also on site :
- Bessent’s $4 billion bond plan is like ‘rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic given the U.S. national debt of $40 trillion,’ ING says
- Who Is Jessica Bowie? Woman With Alleged ISIS Link Accused of New York Plot
- Shoppers Say This $18 Chinoiserie Ceramic Planter With ‘Vintage Charm’ Looks Like a ‘High-End’ Family Heirloom