These 34 apps can steal your money; Google has removed them, you should too
Several new harmful Android apps have been discovered by researchers which can steal your money. Tech giant Google has reportedly removed around 34 apps between July and September from the Google Play Store because they were inflected by the Joker malware that has been giving Android smartphone users nightmares.
Several new harmful Android apps have been discovered by researchers which can steal your money. Tech giant Google has reportedly removed around 34 apps between July and September from the Google Play Store because they were inflected by the Joker malware that has been giving Android smartphone users nightmares. The malware is considered hard to detect due to the little code it uses. It also uses a different technique called ‘Dropper’ to bypass Google’s security scan and sneak into the user's device.
The apps were detected by Zscaler, a cybersecurity firm based in California. You should remove them immediately from phone, if installed. Here is the full list -
1. All Good PDF Scanner
2. Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
3. Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons
4. Tangram App Lock
5. Direct Messenger
6. Private SMS
7. One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional Translator
8. Style Photo Collage
9. Meticulous Scanner
10. Desire Translate
11. Talent Photo Editor – Blur focus
12. Care Message
13. Part Message
14. Paper Doc Scanner
15. Blue Scanner
16. Hummingbird PDF Converter – Photo to PDF
17. All Good PDF Scanner
18. com.imagecompress.android
19. com.relax.relaxation.androidsms
20. com.file.recovefiles
21. com.training.memorygame
22. Push Message- Texting & SMS
23. Fingertip GameBox
24. com.contact.withme.texts
25. com.cheery.message.sendsms (two different instances)
26. com.LPlocker.lockapps
27. Safety AppLock
28. Emoji Wallpaper
29. com.hmvoice.friendsms
30. com.peason.lovinglovemessage
31. com.remindme.alram
32. Convenient Scanner 2
33. Separate Doc Scanner
What can these app do?
The malware uses these apps for subscribing to premium services without the knowledge of users. It first simulates interaction with ads without users’ knowledge and then uses the victim’s SMS messages including OTP to initiate payments. The users are totally unaware about the subscription made on their behalf.
According to Google’s blog post earlier this week, Android’s security team claims that it has taken down around 17,000 apps since the beginning of the year 2017.
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