In a big development, Google has banned eight dangerous apps from the Play Store. These apps were being used by hackers for personal gain to trap users and steal their personal information. It is worth noting that eight of the banned apps are related to cryptocurrency mining.
The cryptocurrency industry is getting popular day by day. More and more individuals around the world are taking a keen interest in new digital currency investment. And this craze has been noticed by hackers and scammers, who are taking this opportunity to trick netizens into downloading these malicious apps on their smartphones. By using these applications, hackers and cyber attackers are silently installing malicious apps containing dangerous malware and adware in the user’s phone.
According to a report by security firm Trend Micro, these eight apps were making victims watch ads, pay for subscriptions, and increased mining capabilities to earn more profit. The average monthly fee charged by these applications was around $15 (roughly Rs 1,100). The research website has also revealed that these apps were paid, which means that users had to pay to download these apps on their smartphones. The Japanese security firm flagged these malicious apps on Google Play Store and asked Google to pull them down.
The tech giant might have removed these apps from the Play Store, but they might still be present in the phones of many users. In case you have any of these apps installed on your device, it is strongly recommended that you uninstall them now.
Google banned these eight apps
BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining
Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining
Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet
Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining
Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System
Bitcoin 2021
MineBit Pro – Crypto Cloud Mining and & BTC Miner
Ethereum (ETH) – Pool Mining Cloud
The report by Trend Micro suggests that two of the above-mentioned apps – Crypto Holic and Daily Bitcoin Rewards – were paid, charging users $12.99 (Rs 996) and $5.99 (Rs 445) respectively. It also states that there are still more than 120 fake cryptocurrency mining apps available online. As mentioned in a report, “These apps, which do not have cryptocurrency mining capabilities and deceive users into watching in-app ads, have affected more than 4,500 users globally from July 2020 to July 2021.”