Motorola phones have started hijacking the Amazon app to insert affiliate codes

gsky

Chinese brands always pull this stuff

gib444

I was possibly thinking of getting a Motorola with G.ràphenéOS when released. Yeah, not now.

sourcegrift

If an anti-worker company is getting fleeced, nothing wrong with that. I hope motorola collaborates with Pine and brings linux to phones. In the age of LLM apps are obviously not a problem. (Hopefully windows Phone 7, not 8 also comes back)

dotcoma

How low can you go?

kayson

> In further digging, we noticed that the URL the phone opens up is “kira-abboud.com,” a website that references fashion influencer “@kirasfashionfinds.” Notably, this exact URL isn’t listed anywhere on Abboud’s social media, and the affiliate codes don’t match up either. The redirect coming from Motorola phones is using Amazona affiliate code “sramz-kff-008-20” which is completely different from any of the codes we saw from links shared by Abboud’s accounts and linked websites. Something funny is up; this doesn't seem deliberate.

blitzo

Isn't this cookie stuffing? Same modus operandi using by Geo-something widget back in 2000s with hidden ebay affiliate links that got caught by FBI. Someone should go in jail for this.

xzxz

I used to choose Motorola devices for a long time but since 2 years when I bought Edge 30 Fusion I started to notice they automatically (without my knowledge) add 3 stupid apps or games about two times a month :/ There is no way to stop it. My kids phones are stuffed with this sh*t.

dingensundso

Calling this "hijacking the Amazon app" is hyperbolic in my opinion. They replaced the shortcut in the app drawer. To me this looks like normal scummy OEM behaviour, like pre-installing spyware, "anti-" malware, adware etc. which sadly pretty much every mobile/computer manufacturer does. Replacing the OS is one of the first things I do with every laptop, PC and mobile device to get rid of (most) crap that was installed without my consent.

coretx

That begs the question! Did they use a Sony rootkit ? XD

999900000999

To think I was worried about buying a Xiaomi tablet while already using a Motorola. Gonna flash a rom on the Xiaomi anyway, but all oems are doing this type of stuff.

risfriend

This is really unethical, replacing original app shortcuts breaks trust.