Adware apps with 2 million installs spotted on Google Play Store

Four Android adware apps have been spotted on the Google Play Store, and they have 2 million installs in total. These apps were spotted by Dr.Web, an IT security solutions provider. The information has been relayed by Bleeping Computer.

Four adware apps managed to accumulate 2 million downloads on the Google Play Store

That being said, we’re looking at four apps here: Super Skibydi Killer, Agent Shooter, Rubber Punch 3D, and Rainbow Stretch. The first app here, amassed 1 million installs, while the second and third reached 500,000. The last app stands at 50,000 installs.

All of these apps are using something called HiddenAds malware. These apps are basically games, but they will try going invisible on you once you install them. How? Well, they will use a different icon to camouflage themselves, or possibly a transparent one.

These apps will run in the background on your phone, and launch ads on your phone’s browser in order to gain revenue.

Malware apps from the FakeApp family were also spotted

These are not all the apps that Dr.Web spotted, not at all. A different group of apps are a part of the ‘FakeApp’ family. These apps will try to get you to go to investment scam websites.

Six such apps were highlighted: Eternal Maze (Yana Pospyelova), Jungle Jewels (Vaibhav Wable), Stellar Secrets (Pepperstocks), Fire Fruits (Sandr Sevill), Cowboy’s Frontier (Precipice Game Studios), and the Enchanted Elixir (Acomadyi).

The first app reached the 50,000 downloads mark, while the other five crossed the 10,000 downloads threshold. If you thought that’s all, well, it’s not.

Two malware apps from the ‘Joker’ family are also wreaking havoc

The last roundup relates to the ‘Joker’ family of malware apps. We’re very familiar with such apps. They will try to make you sign up for premium paid services. Two apps were highlighted, Love Emoji Messenger (Korsinka Vimoipan) and Beauty Wallpaper HD (fm0989184). The first one reached the 50,000 downloads mark, while the second one hit a 1,000 downloads level.

Do note that all of these apps have been removed from the Google Play Store. Still, if you do have them installed on your phone, you’ll need to remove them manually.