The Google Play Store is one of the most dependable platforms for Android app downloads, while iPhone users go to the App Store. Google, like Apple, has several safety measures in place to monitor what kinds of apps are listed on the Play Store. However, there are times when scammers employ novel techniques to inject malware into applications and steal money and data from users.
Such incidents have occurred in the past, and the cloud security firm Zscaler has now reported that Google recently removed over 50 apps from the Play Store due to malware. According to the report, Zscaler ThreatLabz team discovered apps in Google Play infected with three different malware families: Joker, Facestealer, and Coper.
Reports states that, the majority of these apps were infected with Joker malware, which is unquestionably one of the most prominent malware families targeting Android devices. The Joker malware "continues to find its way into Google official app store by regularly modifying the malware trace signatures, including updates to the code, execution methods, and payload-retrieving techniques," according to the report. According to the report, "this malware is designed to steal SMS messages, contact lists, and device information, as well as sign the victim up for premium wireless application protocol (WAP) services."
Google was immediately notified about these apps, and the company immediately removed them. However, this did not solve the problem because all of these apps had already been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of Android users.
Check out the list of apps that are affected below. Notably, if you have any of them installed on your phone, uninstall them right away.
Google recently removed over 50 apps from the Play Store
- Instant Messenger
- Text SMS
- Professional Messages
- Personal Message
- Smart SMS Messages
- Light Messages
- Private Messenger
- Cool Messages
- Premium SMS
- Chat SMS
- Chat Text SMS
- Fancy SMS
- Funny Keyboard
- Send SMS
- Hi Text SMS
- iMessager
- Funny Emoji Message
- Fonts Emoji Keyboard
- Themes Chat Messenger
- Cool Keyboard
- Creative Emoji Keyboard
- Custom Themed Keyboard
- Smile Emoji
- Fonts Emoji Keyboard
- Blood Pressure Checker
- Memory Silent Camera
- Text Emoji SMS
- Simple Note Scanner
- Smart Messages
- Universal PDF Scanner
- Themes Photo Keyboard
- Mini PDF Scanner
- Magic Photo Editor
- All Photo Translator
- Wow Translator
- All Language Translate
- Emoji Theme Keyboard
- Come Messages
- Social Message
- Painting Photo Editor
- Advanced SMS
- Style Message
- Rich Theme Message
- Professional Messenger
- Classic Game Messenger
- Quick Talk Message
- Private Game Messages
- Timestamp Camera
- Camera Translator
- Blood Pressure Diary
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