According to reports, the Google Play Store has removed 24 apps that were filled with malware, spying on users and sending that data to Chinese servers. The apps in question had around 382 million downloads altogether.
The apps are said to have belonged to a single parent company from China that was using multiple developer accounts to upload different apps on the Google Play Store.
A report was issued by VPN Pro regarding the apps which they said asked for dangerous permissions and many even contained malware and rougeware.
Read more: Xiaomi launches 65W Universal Charger for smartphones and laptops.
Rougeware is an app that pretends to detect and fix issues on your device while also asking you to pay money for some features.
The company behind all this is called Shenzen HAWK which is a subsidiary of TCL Corporation. Some of the apps by the company had millions of downloads on their own like a Sound Recorder with over 100 million downloads, a Virus Cleaner 2019 app with over 100 million downloads as well as a File Manager app with 50 million and a Cleaner app with 100 million downloads.
According to Forbes they reached out to Google on Tuesday regarding the apps and the tech giant swiftly removed them.
The Forbes report said:
I shared the findings of the report with Google, and the tech giant acted swiftly and decisively, removing all of the apps listed in the report from the Play Store—apps with 382 million installs in combination.
Google in a response said to Forbes:
We take reports of security and privacy violations seriously,
We have compiled a list of the apps that were removed by Google.
List of apps removed by Google Play Store:
- World Zoo
- Puzzle Box
- Word Crossy!
- Soccer Pinball
- Dig it
- Laser Break
- Word Crush
- Music Roam
- File Manager
- Sound Recorder
- Joy Launcher
- Turbo Browser
- Weather Forecast
- Calendar Lite
- Candy Selfie Camera
- Private Browser
- Super Cleaner
- Super Battery
- Virus Cleaner 2019
- Hi Security 2019
- Hi VPN, Free VPN
- Hi VPN Pro
- Net Master
- Candy Gallery
If you have any of these apps in your phone, some of which come pre-installed in Alcatel and other phones offered by TCL Corporation, it would be best for you to removed these immediately.
Read more: Google sent users’ private videos in Google Photos to strangers.
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