A new report signed by two members of Zimperian Labs reports that there is a wide range of malicious apps available for Android. Their goal was to cheat users with monthly fees for non-existent services.
The authors of this alert nicknamed this new malware like GriftHorse. According to Aazim Yaswant and Nipun Gupta, more than 10 million users, spread over 70 countries, have been harmed by this deceptive campaign.
Here is the list of apps that you should uninstall now
Following the findings of this report, its authors shared the information with Google. The American company, faced with the situation, offered to remove them from its application store, however, only you can remove them from your smartphone if you have one installed.
Malicious apps charge a monthly fee without users knowing
This is the typical Trojan scheme well known in the tech world. These malicious apps hide from users and take advantage of their smartphone interactions to spread and expand their influence.
Many of these applications seem harmless due to the descriptions contained in the Play Store and even due to the requested permissions. However, once installed on a smartphone, they flood users with pop-up windows intruder.
Strictly speaking, affected users faced an average of five pop-up windows per hour. They notified applicants that they would have won a prize and asked them to collect it.
Who clicked on these? pop-up windows He was redirected to a website that would ask for a contact number. In fact, they were tricked into signing an SMS contract with a monthly cost 35 dollars.
As the report’s authors note, “The GriftHorse Trojan takes advantage of small screens, local trust, and misinformation to induce users to download and install such Android Trojans, as well as frustration or curiosity when accepting a bogus prize sent by mail. junk on notification screens. “
It is also mentioned that many of the injured would only realize what happened after months of extortion, which enhances the spread of this Trojan. So, if you have any of the apps listed above, it’s time to uninstall them now.