Google Has Banned 9 More Android Apps, And You Must Now Remove Them From Your Device
Millions of people have been victimized by malicious apps including the Android Trojan “Flytrap,” which were tricked in by free coupon vouchers and soccer polling. Nine of these apps have now been blacklisted by Google, and you must uninstall them from your device.
Do you ever second-guess the applications you install on your Android device? The typical smartphone user has almost 80 apps, most of which are hardly used – but it may be worthwhile to scan yours for malicious programs.
Earlier this week, experts warned of nine fraudulent Android apps that might harm your device and perhaps even allowing your Facebook account to be compromised. Although they have been deleted from the Google Play store, they are still available for free download through third-party apps stores – and could already be on your device.
It’s all because just like the Android Trojan FlyTrap, that has attacked thousands of people since March of this year. Trojans, like the mythological horse, is a form of malware that masquerades as normal software but contains malicious code.
FlyTrap has indeed entered 140 nations, according to cybersecurity experts Zimperium’s zLabs. It functions by masking itself within common-app-apps that individuals install on their Android smartphones.
FlyTrap hacks any Facebook accounts on the device once it is downloaded. It has the ability to collect confidential info such as the user’s Facebook Credential, location, email id, IP address, and any cookies linked to the profile.
Furthermore worse, your Facebook profile would be used to spread the Trojan by delivering out messages to your relatives and friends inviting them to install the apps, or even by publishing misleading info to your account.
The malicious software provides amusing options such as Netflix and Google Ads special offers, as well as vote for sports players and teams.
The few to consider, according to Zimperium, are:
- GG Voucher (com.luxcarad.cardid)
- Vote European Football (com.gardenguides.plantingfree)
- GG Coupon Ads (com.free_coupon.gg_free_coupon)
- GG Voucher Ads (com.m_application.app_moi_6)
- GG Voucher (com.free.voucher)
- Chatfuel (com.ynsuper.chatfuel)
- Net Coupon (com.free_coupon.net_coupon)
- Net Coupon (com.movie.net_coupon)
- EURO 2021 Official (com.euro2021)
Everything appears to be very well whenever users login into the programs until they provide their Facebook login credentials to vote in an election or redeem promo offers. The application will not reveal authentic codes, rather showing that they have expired. That’s the moment at which the malicious malware takes control of your account.
The trojan operation, according to Zimperium, is sophisticated and difficult to identify: “High-quality visuals and official-looking authentication displays are popular strategies to have individuals act quickly which might compromise confidential information, just like any other user manipulation.”
Perhaps it emphasized that these aren’t the only apps to be aware of, suggesting that your device is a “treasure trove” for hackers: “FlyTrap is only one sample of the persistent, active threats targeted at obtaining credentials from smartphones… It wouldn’t take much for a malicious party to develop FlyTrap or any other Trojan to attack even more sensitive data.”