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Android Marketplace Hit By Scam
Published Dec 15, 2011
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Twenty-seven applications have been removed from the Android Marketplace by Google, after they were discovered to contain malware, according to the BBC.
The Apps, dubbed the ‘RuFraud scam', were posing as popular app downloads, such as Angry Birds, Tetris and Need for Speed, and tricked users into sending text messages to premium rate numbers.
Google has been facing a surge in fraudulent applications, viruses and malware in its Android Marketplace as applications are not vetted by the company before publishing.
Lookout, the mobile security company that identified the fraudulent apps, believes the attempt originated in Russia. After notifying Google of the 22 apps it found, it discovered another five running the RuFraud scam.
The scam made users believe they were downloading a game or program, but instead were giving their phone permission to send text messages at accost of approximately $4.63.
Google told the BBC that the five extra apps that were found have also now been removed.
Users across Europe were affected by the scam and Lookout believes there may have been as many as 14,000 downloads of the fraudulent apps.
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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