Fake Apex Legends Mobile and Hack Downloads in 2026

Apex Legends mobile scams in 2026: the short answer

There is no official Apex Legends mobile game to download in 2026. EA released Apex Legends Mobile and then announced on January 31, 2023 that it would sunset the game, saying it no longer met its bar for quality.[8] We found no official relaunch as of 2026.

So any site, video or post that offers an Apex Legends mobile APK, an aimbot or a free hack is not from EA or Respawn. Such offers were used to spread adware and malware in 2019, as our original report below shows.[1][2] Free game cheats are still used to spread information stealers today.[10]

Timeline: fake Apex downloads from 2019 to 2026

What changed since 2019

In 2019 the scam worked because a mobile version did not exist yet. Later a real Apex Legends Mobile existed for a while. Game World Observer reported that it was EA's sixth highest-grossing mobile game in 2022, yet EA still announced its shutdown.[8] Today the situation is again like 2019: people search for a mobile version that is not officially offered.

The cheat side of the problem grew. In March 2024 two professional players saw cheats such as an aimbot and wallhack activated in their games during the North American finals, and the event was postponed.[9] Malwarebytes reported that a scan of one affected system found no malware but did flag an inbound connection attempt on a remote desktop port.[9]

Researchers also track groups that use free cheats as bait. Infostealers.com describes a site run by a traffer team called LyTeam that spreads information stealers under the guise of cheats for games including Apex Legends.[10]

Scams that target Apex Legends players (our analysis)

The list below is our analysis of patterns seen in the sources and in similar game scams.

• Fake mobile APKs. Files named like Apex Legends Mobile from file hosts or video links. They often lead to adware, survey walls or worse.[1]
• Free aimbots and wallhacks. Cheat downloads for PC and mobile that install information stealers and take saved passwords and game sessions.[10]
• Human verification pages. Pages that ask you to finish offers before a download unlocks. They make money for the scammer and never deliver a game.[1]
• Free Apex Coins. Generators that promise coins for your login. They steal the EA account.
• Fake updates. Pages that ask you to install a player or update before a download, a trick reported in 2019.[4]

How to stay safe as an Apex Legends player

1. Use official sources. Get the game only from official platform stores and the EA app. A third-party APK site is not an official source.

2. Skip mobile APKs. EA announced the sunset of Apex Legends Mobile in 2023.[8] Any file that claims to be the mobile game is not from EA.

3. Never run cheats. Free cheats are a known way to spread information stealers.[10] Cheating can also get your account banned.

4. Secure the EA account. Use a unique password and turn on two-step sign-in. Check whether your email appeared in a leak with our leak check.

5. Scan if you ran one. If you installed a fake APK or a cheat, scan the device and remove unknown apps. Then change passwords from a clean device. Our virus removal guides can help.

6. Report the fake. Report videos, posts and sites that push fake downloads to the platform. Our guide on how to report phishing explains where to send them.

What is still unknown

• Whether EA will bring Apex Legends back to mobile. We found no official plan as of 2026.
• How many players lost accounts to fake cheats. The sources we read give no total.
• Who was behind the March 2024 tournament hacks. The reports we read did not name a confirmed attacker.[9]

Our original 2019 report

The text below is our report as first published in 2019. We keep it unchanged for the record; the sections above bring it up to date.

Fake Apex Legends mobile applications download sites distributes malicious programs to fans of the popular game.[1]. The malicious APK download link was published on YouTube on February 16 and racked up over 600,000 views, as well as over 100,000 link clicks in just five days, as reported by ESET's security researcher Lukas Stefanko.[2]

Apex Legends is a Battle Royale video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by EA, playable on multiple platforms, such as Windows, PlayStation, and Xbox One. However, the mobile version of the game has not yet been released. Sounds familiar? Yes, the same scenario happened to Fortnite – another insanely popular BR game.

Apex Legends broke the records when 25 million logged into the game within the first week of its release[3]. It is not surprising that, due to game's immense popularity, combined with the fact that the iOS and Android version does not exist yet, malware authors will attempt to establish an illegal business while trying to trick people by using phishing links.

Stefanko said that, along with the popular fake YouTube video, there were hundreds of others present, reaching the same goal. Fortunately, the mentioned video, along with the fake APK download link, is now removed.

These links used in Apex Legends scam redirect viewers to almobile.pw or getapex.mobi websites. Once there, players are offered to choose the operating system for the alleged game and then presented with what seems to be a "Human verification." In this instance, there is no malware involved, but users get tricked into completing the verification for the initial installation, creating pageviews to collect commissions for the adware developers.

In most cases, the fake Apex Legends app leads to downloading adware or visiting malicious sites, but researchers note that installation of much more severe threats is likely as well.

Apex Legends mobile version scams on YouTube are not the only threats that focus on the game

Cybercriminals behind this Apex Legends mobile application scam deliver APK download links on YouTube videos with tutorials. This malicious application, later on, delivers adware or even more severe malware.

Cybersecurity company Lookout discovered dozens of malicious domains used to run these phishing campaigns that push various scams like Apex Coin scam and other game cheats. Crooks even deployed links online, claiming that it is a free version of the game (it is free-to-play in the first place). Phishing AI Twitter account reported about malicious websites that push fake Flash updaters too.[4] Fake Flash updates are notorious for distributing such cyber threats like ransomware, banking trojans and another type of dangerous malware.

Phishing AI also uncovered 39 domains that were used by scammers to target Apex Legends players who look for in-game coin mining bots or similar services.

As long as there is demand for gaming, the industry will be targeted by malware

Video game industry has grown rapidly within the last 20 years and continues growing, with the worth that surpasses film and music industry combined. [5] Some games are doomed to die, while others flourish and enjoy the playerbase of millions of users. Unsurprisingly, cybercriminals will be everywhere where demand is high, no matter what it is.

Fortnite is one of the games that reached record popularity during 2018 and was also targeted with numerous scams promising fake Android versions of the game or V-bucks coin miners.[6]

The police arrested Chinese crooks in 2018 for selling cheating applications for the PUBG (another famous battle royale) which consequently installed backdoor trojan Hugeizi[7]

Back in 2016 Pokemon Go was released and popularized all over the world. The popularity of this reality-driven mobile game also was used to distribute fake applications that claim to give the advantage within the gameplay. Gamers should be cautious of the immense popularity of the game they play and only trust official announcements. Additionally, cheats that promise in-game currency, aim-bots, and similar, should never be attempted to download. Downloading such tools will almost always result in malware infection.

Related guides on 2-Spyware

• Virus and malware removal guides
• Check whether your email appeared in a leak
• How to report phishing
• Recent data breaches