Google Play Store deletes 8 crypto apps for alleged deception
MANILA, Philippines — Those who are into cryptocurrencies have been warned by a TrendMicro report that prompted Google to remove eight apps from the Play Store for alleged deception.
In the August 18 article by mobile threats analyst Cifer Fang, it said that Trend Micro discovered eight "deceptive mobile apps that masquerade as cryptocurrency cloud mining applications (detected by Trend Micro as AndroidOS_FakeMinerPay and AndroidOS_FakeMinerAd)."
The said scheme leads users who downloaded the app from the Google Play Store to earn cryptocurrency by investing money into a cloud-mining operation.
These apps, however, are discovered to trick victims into watching ads, pay for subscription services that have an average monthly fee of US$15, and pay for increased mining capabilities without getting anything in return.
The eight deleted apps are:
1. BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining
2. Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining
3. Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet
4. Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining
5. Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System
6. Bitcoin 2021
7. MineBit Pro - Crypto Cloud Mining & btc miner
8. Ethereum (ETH) - Pool Mining Cloud
The report also said that Crypto Holic-Bitcoin Cloud Mining and Daily Bitcoin Rewards-Cloud Based Mining System were paid apps priced at US$12.99 and US$5.99, respectively.
The study also revealed that upon searching "cloud mining" on the Play Store, there are still "numerous concerning applications of the same type," some of which have been downloaded more than 100,000 times.
In addition, there are more than 120 fake cryptocurrency mining apps being used by victims as revealed on the Trend Micro Mobile App Reputation Service (MARS) data.
The MARS data stressed that these apps, which do not have cryptocurrency mining capabilities and deceive users into watching in-app ads, have affected more than 4,500 users globally from July 2020 to July 2021. MARS also detected all of these samples as AndroidOS_FakeMinerPay and AndroidOS_FakeMinerAd.
Trend Micro suggested ways for users to detect fake mining apps. Top of its suggestion is to take note of one-star reviews as opposed to five-star reviews because these can be "false and paid-for." Another is to confirm if there is a withdrawal fee. Free withdrawals, it said, are "very suspicious."
Cryptocurrencies are popular these days as some people see it as the currency of the future.
Nerdwallet.com explained it as a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. Some of those who are into cryptocurrencies like these virtual currencies because these are not governed by any central banks. The most popular cryptocurrency is Bitcoin.
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