Google has banned eight fraudulent cryptocurrency mining applications intended to deceive users.
These eight apps had in-app buying varying from $14.99 to $189.99.
According to security investigation company Trend Micro, over 120 bogus mining apps are still available online.
Cryptocurrency has become a rage amongst the youth, business people, and investors worldwide. Because of this massive surge in crypto users, malicious apps and hackers are taking advantage of the continuing crypto hype.
These apps are created to trick users into installing them on their smartphones.
Google identifies ‘Get rich quick’ plot to lure
Google has recognized eight such dangerous crypto apps on its Play Store and removed them. These apps manipulated the conventional “get rich quick” plot to lure users into investing funds in a ‘cloud mining service’ and reap earnings.
“Despite these apps not being associated with cloud-mining operations or having any cryptocurrency-mining features, some of these apps prompt users to pay for increased cryptocurrency-mining capabilities via the apps’ in-app billing systems that range from $14.99 to as high as $189.99.” The Trend Micro report said.
Business Insider reported the Trend Micro research said the eight banned apps urged users to view ads with a monthly fee of $115 (approx. Rs 1,114). These apps also recommended that customers spend for improved mining techniques by purchasing their preferred crypto “machines” in the cloud.
“The app called Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System prompts its users to upgrade their crypto mining capacity by “buying” their favorite mining machines to earn more coins at a faster rate,” the report further added.
Google banned these 8 crypto-related apps from Playstore
- Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System
- Bitcoin 2021
- MineBit Pro – Crypto Cloud Mining & BTC miner
- Ethereum (ETH) – Pool Mining Cloud
- BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining
- Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining
- Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet
- Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining
More dangerous in the Trend Micro analysis is that over 120 fake crypto-mining apps are still available online. The report adds these apps affected 4,500 plus users in 2020.
If you have any of these apps connected to your phone, it is recommended that you uninstall them immediately.
The procedure is to go to Settings -> Apps – select the apps and click ‘Uninstall’.