Google bans three dangerous rip-off mobile apps that can steal your money – World News

The apps try to impersonate other apps, but they are riddled with Trojan horses that can hijack your information or start paid subscriptions without user’s asking

Three dangerous rip-off mobile apps have been banned by search engine Google as part of a crackdown on scammers.

However, experts fear more will soon be added to replace them.

The apps try to cheat users out of money by pretending to be similar to real apps, however, they are riddled with trojans that can hijack your information or start paid subscriptions without user’s asking.

One of them has a nasty bug that can bypass Google’s security detection.

The dangerous error was found in three apps: Style Message, Blood Pressure App and Camera PDF Scanner.

However, others are also imitated to gain user’s trust.

These reportedly include GameBeyond, Tubemate, Minecraft, GTA5, and Vidmate.

Apps that have trojans installed are regularly removed from the Store, but criminals are quick to replace them, impersonating popular brands and names.

Igor Golovin out Kaspersky called. “Most apps lack any legitimate functionality.

“They start subscribing right after launch while the user sees a loading window.

“They typically pay for legitimate services on behalf of a user, and scammers take a cut of the money being charged.

“These types of subscription fees are usually deducted from the phone balance.”

Cyber ​​crooks download genuine apps and add malicious code before re-uploading them to the App Store under a pseudonym, experts say.

However, once the app is on your phone, it tries to access text messages or notifications to gather information.

Jocker victims were mainly Saudi Arabia (21.20%), Poland (8.98%) and Germany (6.01%).

Downloading apps from unofficial sources should be avoided.

“Read the reviews, find out about the developer, terms of service and payment.” Mr. Golovin devices.

“For messaging, choose a well-known app with positive reviews.

“Even if you trust an app, don’t give it too many permissions.

“Allow access to notifications only to apps that need it to fulfill their intended purposes – for example, to push notifications to wearable devices.

“Apps for themes like wallpapers or photo editing don’t need access to your notifications.”