Delete these apps! 30 downloads filling phones with dangerous adware
Have you been downloading apps from Google Play recently? If so, you might want to scan through your phone for now. A new batch of malicious programs has been deleted from Google Play after it was found that they installed annoying adware and browser redirects without informing users.
If this sounds like déjà vu to you, you’re not wrong. The cycle of malware on Google Play getting discovered and promptly deleted has been going on for years now, and the problem doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Tap or click here to see the last batch of malware deleted from the Google Play store.
To help you secure your phone, we have the complete list of malicious apps to watch out for. If any of these are present on your device, you need to delete them now.
Surprise! New malicious adware found on Google Play Store
Security researchers working for WhiteOps have a new report detailing malicious apps that were present on the Google Play Store with millions of downloads. These programs primarily masqueraded as beauty filters and camera apps, but once installed by a user, they begin to spam advertisements and sudden redirects to scam websites.
Some of these apps took efforts to remove the malicious code to keep up the appearance of normalcy, but not all of them went this far. In fact, some apps continued spamming users over the course of several months starting back in late 2019 all the way up to mid-2020.
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To make matters worse, the malicious apps would sometimes delete their own app icon, which can make it difficult to find and uninstall them.
In response, Google did what it always does in this situation: Remove the offending apps. Unfortunately, this does little to mitigate the problem for victims who may have already installed the apps without knowing how dangerous they were.
In the nick of time: The offending apps
When malicious apps get removed from Google Play, it can be difficult to find out their specific names after the fact. Fortunately, we have the complete list of apps to examine your phone for and remove.
If you have any of these apps on your device, delete them immediately. Regardless of how fun or useful their features may seem, it’s not worth dealing with potentially dangerous advertisements and annoying redirects to spam and phishing websites. Here’s what you need to delete:
Microsoft warns of massive phishing campaign targeting PCs
Have you been busy during quarantine? If not, don’t worry — most of us haven’t been. But that statement doesn’t apply to hackers and cybercriminals, who’ve spent the COVID-19 pandemic refining their technique and creating phishing websites to steal people’s data.
Warning! These shipping emails from FedEx and UPS are fakes
If you’re like most of us, you’ve probably ordered items for delivery at some point during the COVID-19 pandemic. And just like most of us, you’ve noticed delays in shipping no matter where in the country you live.
These delays aren’t happening without good reason, mind you. Shutdowns at postal and shipping facilities have snarled logistical traffic, and even Amazon is struggling to keep up with a record number of orders. Tap or click to see why Amazon wants you to shop less.
Don't click on these dangerous phishing websites
With millions of Americans at home, cybercriminals are scrambling to change targets. Instead of the old run-of-the-mill tactics, crooks are focused on people working from home or looking for ways to stay entertained online. Ruthless, right?