Google removes 17 Android apps caught engaging in WAP billing fraud

Android apps: Tech giant Google last week removed as many as 17 apps from its Play Store, after they were found to be infected with malware. Security researchers from Zscaler found that the 17 apps were infected by Joker or Bread malware.

• Google has deleted 17 apps in total from Google Play Store.
• The removed 17 Android apps were infected with Joker malware.
• As per reports, there were around 120,000 downloads for these malicious apps.

As soon as Google was notified about the 17 malicious apps that intend to gain unauthorised access to the users’ data, the company’s Android Security team took prompt action to remove the apps from the Play Store.

In that time, Google has removed more than 1700 apps that have been plagued by the Joker malware. These 17 apps were downloaded 120,000 times before being detected. The list of 17 apps is as follows. 

• All Good PDF Scanner
• Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
• Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons
• Tangram App Lock
• Direct Messenger
• Private SMS
• One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional Translator
• Style Photo Collage
• Meticulous Scanner
• Desire Translate
• Talent Photo Editor – Blur focus
• Care Message
• Part Message
• Paper Doc Scanner
• Blue Scanner
• Hummingbird PDF Converter – Photo to PDF
• All Good PDF Scanner

Following its internal procedures, Google removed the apps from the Play Store, used the Play Protect service to disable the apps on infected devices, but users still need to manually intervene and remove the apps from their devices.

The Joker malware has remained a persistent threat for the Android security theme. Despite Google’s efforts, the malware has been popping up on various apps on the Play Store at regular intervals.

Earlier this month, Google had removed six apps containing the malware that were spotted by cybersecurity firm Pradeo and accounted for nearly 2 lakh installs.

Zscaler, giving its word of caution, told users to keep an eye on the permissions that any apps were seeking, and look out for suspicious permissions like SMS messages, contacts or call logs, as it could be an indicator of a malicious app

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