In recent months, we have seen a rapid increase in fake apps on Google Play, and now 85 more have been identified, affecting more than 9 million users.
Trend Micro’s research team has found 85 apps disguised as games, universal TV remote apps, and more on the Google Play Store. Once installed, they are known to display full-page ads on every tap and in some cases disappear from the home screen and run in the background. These apps, while fancy, offer no convenience to users and impact device performance.
And that's not all. The developers of such apps also create false impressions about their installation on phones. Some are even known as disguised apps that install on Android phones and operate as if they were on iPhones, in order to charge premium fees.
"We have tested each of the fake apps associated with the adware family and found that although they come from different manufacturers and have different APK public keys, they exhibit similar behaviors and share the same code," Trend Micro said in the blog post.
One particular app – 'Easy Universal TV Remote' found on the Play Store, which claimed to turn an Android phone into a remote control for smart TVs, does nothing more than flood the phone with full-page ads. Unfortunately, more than 5 million people were fooled. There are several others, and Trend Micro managed to identify 85 of them and notify Google.
Considering the issue, Google has removed all malicious apps from the Play Store. If you have already downloaded such apps on your Android phones, please remove them immediately. You can check the names of the malicious apps in Trend Micro's security files here.
How to protect your smartphone from malware:
Always keep your smartphone updated to the latest firmware. Most companies in partnership with Google send out software updates, especially security updates, so be sure to install them promptly
Make sure you use premium antivirus software, which also provides malware protection and online security
Always enable Google Play Protect on your Android phone. Go to Google Play >> Select Play Protect >> enable both- Option 1: Scan device for security threat and Option 2: Improve detection of harmful apps
Never open emails sent from unknown senders
Never install apps from unknown websites
Never install apps from unknown publishers even on the Google Play store
Never side-load apps from websites other than the Google Play store on an Android phone.
Always read user reviews before installing an app from the Google Play store
