43 Android Apps Doing Ad Fraud Google Removed Most of Them From Play Store McAfee Report

In a recent revelation, researchers at a cybersecurity firm revealed an ad-fraud scheme on Android devices that targets users through invisible adware. The danger is great because adware works in a covert manner and is extremely difficult to be detected and detected by common users. According to the report, the firm has revealed a total of 43 apps that were using this scheme. The firm says that the information about these apps has been shared with Google and the good thing is that Google has also removed some of these apps from its application store.

McAfee’s mobile research team discovered 43 apps (some now removed) available on Google Play that load ads when the device’s screen is off. of the firm have to say That these clearly violate Google Play’s developer policies, which govern how ads should be displayed. This not only affects advertisers who pay for invisible ads, but also affects ordinary users as it drains battery, consumes data, and puts them at risk of personal information leakage due to clicker behavior. Increases.

Research says the team has identified 43 apps that have been collectively downloaded 2.5 million times. Targeted apps include TV/DMB players, music downloaders, news and calendar applications.

According to the report, McAfee also shared the information about these apps with Google and said that the search engine took immediate action and removed most of the apps from Google Play. At the same time, other developers have updated the apps. McAfee Mobile Security identifies this threat as Android/Clicker.

This ad fraud library uses a special strategy to avoid getting caught. It deliberately delays the onset of its fraudulent activity, thereby remaining undetected at the time of installation. All complex configurations of this library can be stored and pushed remotely using Firebase Storage or Messaging Service.

Among all the identified apps, some of the popular apps are as follows:-

• Baro TV
• DMB App
• Jihosoft mobile recovery app
• Music Bada
• Music Downloader
• NewLive
• Ringtones Free Music
• Com’ONAIR
• liveplay
• PUBG Mobile (KR)
• AT Player