Google has removed nine Android apps from the Google Play Store which had over 5.8 million downloads that were sneakily stealing social media login credentials from unsuspecting users.
Russian anti-malware software company Dr.Web found trojan apps that would steal Facebook passwords by tricking unsuspecting victims into entering their private information in order to bypass in-app ads.
Spotted by Ars Technica, the apps ranged from photo-editing software to fitness programs and horoscope news. One of the malicious apps known as “PIP Photo” had 5 million downloads, while others ranged from 10 to 500,000.
To trick users, the trojan apps would provide full functionality of their services and take away in-app ads if the users logged into their Facebook account via the application.
The app would load up a legitimate Facebook login page, but the details typed in would go straight to the malicious actors’ command-and-control server. With the number of downloads, millions of Facebook accounts could have potentially been hacked into.
According to the report, Google has permanently banned the developers of the apps to prohibit them from making new apps.
While the Android apps are no longer listed on the Play Store, if you had installed any of them, delete them straight away.
Below is a list of the trojan apps:
- PIP Photo
- Processing Photo
- Rubbish Cleaner
- Inwell Fitness
- Horoscope Daily
- App Lock Keep
- Lockit Master
- Horoscope Pi
- App Lock Manager
