New Delhi: In the smart mobile telephony age, several dangerous apps are lurking in the internet that could expose you to serious vulnerabilities.
The newest such malicious apps on the Android platform have been identified by Researchers from Sophos.
Sophos found that these apps contain dangerous ‘fleeceware’ and could syphon off thousands from you. The research found 23 apps that violate the Google Play Store’s new app policies.
Researcher Jagadeesh Chandraiah in the Sophos blog explained, “Some of the policy violations shown on these screens include: the absence of a dismiss button; billing details and terms are very small and printed on a very light font that makes it almost unreadable.”
Some apps use ‘blind sub’ tactic, in which you will be lured to use “a button labeled ‘Try FOR Free’ or ‘Start Free’ — before displaying the complete billing details.”
Others use ‘spam subscriptions’ technique. Here, Chandraiah explains, user signs up once, and finds “subscribed to a bunch of different apps as the fleeceware apps advertise one another.”
“Users sometimes unknowingly subscribe to hundreds of dollars worth of app subscriptions by clicking buttons like these,” he adds.
Sophos research has listed these 23 fleeceware found on the Play Store
| Package name | Subscription charge |
|---|---|
| com.photoconverter.fileconverter.jpegconverter | $249.99/€224.99/year |
| com.recoverydeleted.recoveryphoto.photobackup | $249.99/€224.99/year |
| com.screenrecorder.gamerecorder.screenrecording | $249.99/€224.99/year |
| com.photogridmixer.instagrid | $229.99/€219.99/year |
| com.compressvideo.videoextractor | $229.99/€219.99/year |
| com.smartsearch.imagessearch | $229.99/€219.99/year |
| com.emmcs.wallpapper | $89.99/week |
| com.wallpaper.work.application | $89.99/week |
| com.gametris.wallpaper.application | $89.99/week |
| com.tell.shortvideo | $89.99/week |
| com.csxykk.fontmoji | $89.99/week |
| com.video.magician | $89.99/week |
| com.el2020xstar.xstar | $89.99/week |
| com.dev.palmistryastrology | $69.99/week |
| com.dev.furturescope | $69.99/week |
| com.fortunemirror | $69.99/week |
| com.itools.prankcallfreelite | $44.99/year |
| com.isocial.fakechat | $45.99/year |
| com.old.me | $94.99/year |
| com.myreplica.celebritylikeme.pro | $12.99/€10.99/week |
| com.nineteen.pokeradar | Pay per install |
| com.pokemongo.ivgocalculator | Buggy app |
| com.hy.gscanner | $79.99/year |
“Be wary of apps that have short trial and high costs. If you want to unsubscribe from an app trial, please follow the instructions provided by Apple for iOS users or by Google for Android users,” the research said.
Source: Zee News