Google bans 36 Android scam apps with MILLIONS of downloads – delete them right now

GOOGLE has deleted 36 popular apps from the Play Store and you may need to delete them from your phone.

The apps were removed after they bombarded users with unwanted adverts and intrusive browser redirections.

Unsuspecting users would apparently be taken to website links they hadn't even clicked on by the malicious software.

The scam was detected by researchers at .

They found fraudulent code within the apps that suggested they could all be malicious and adware-packed.

They wrote: "We associated 38 apps with this threat, all of which have been taken down by the Play Store."

They only name 36 of the apps in the report and they are all included in the list above.

Two of the apps names were listed as 'Unknown' but one was said to be a beauty camera and the other a collage creation tool.

All the apps mainly targeted the beauty and selfie market.

Cyber-criminals appear to have uploaded them to the Play Store from as early as January last year.

According to WhiteOps, a lot of the apps lasted just 17 days before being detected and deleted by Google.

Unfortunately, this didn't stop them from being downloaded by numerous unsuspecting adware victims.

The scammers reportedly tried to change the software to trick Google into thinking they were safe but ultimately got caught out.

WhiteOps explained: “The White Ops Satori Threat Intelligence and Research Team recently identified and tracked a fraud operation that rendered fraudulent advertising in users’ devices.

"These apps amassed more than 20 million downloads.

“What these apps all have in common - besides their fraudulent tactics - is their focus on beauty.

"Most purport to be selfie apps that add beauty filters to users’ pictures, while at the same time showing ads out of context and making it nearly impossible to remove the apps themselves.

"In the time since that first app was published, the fraudsters published a new app every 11 days on average.

"And on average, those apps were pulled down from the Play Store 17 days later.

"These numbers tell a story of a cat and mouse game, in which the Play Store hunts down the fraudster and keeps them in check by removing fraudulent apps as quickly as they’re discovered.

"The fraudster likely developed a more robust mechanism to avoid detection and removal.

"A batch of 15 apps, all published after September 2019, had a much slower removal rate using those new techniques."

If you have any of these apps you should delete them and it's advisable to do your research on any apps you are about to download.

In other news, a smartphone app that turns your photos into works of art is now free on iPhone and Android.

A tech blogger has revealed the possible design for next year's iPhone 12.

And, if you're looking for a handset you can actually get your hands on, check out our iPhone 11 review.

Have you noticed any scam apps recently? Let us know in the comments...

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