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Phone apps infected with malicious malware are stealing money from millions of people

Published 11:31 19 Sept 2017 BST

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A new report by software company Check Point has shown that malware unknowingly downloaded in apps by the public are stealing money from millions of users. Check Point’s mobile threat research team identified a new variant of an Android malware called ExpensiveWall that sends fraudulent premium SMS messages and charges users’ accounts for fake services without their knowledge. "In some cases, the SMS activity takes place without giving the user any notice. In other cases, the malware presents the user with a button called “Continue,” and once the user clicks the button, the malware sends a premium SMS on his behalf," the report reads. Over 50 apps in the Google Play Store were affected and were downloaded by up to four million users. “While ExpensiveWall is currently designed only to generate profit from its victims, a similar malware could be easily modified to use the same infrastructure in order to capture pictures, record audio, and even steal sensitive data and send the data to a command and control (C&C) server,” Check Point said. “Since the malware is capable of operating silently, all of this illicit activity takes place without the victim’s knowledge, turning it into the ultimate spying tool.” The affected apps were reported to Google Play in August and were removed but the report said that more versions of it appeared again within days. Below is the full list of apps affected courtesy of The Independent.