Delete them from Android. These applets lured people to cryptocurrencies, but stole money from them

Fraudulent applications on Google Play are nothing new, and because of the “openness” of the store, it is often difficult for developers to identify them at first glance. However, users and enthusiasts of cryptocurrencies also have a great deal of experience with fraud, as they are even more common in this area.

The “connection” of these two worlds in fraudsters has resulted in a huge number of fake applications, which you will reveal at first glance. Analysts from Trend Micro however, they also discovered several that were not even registered by Google.

“Cloud mining” full of ads and expensive subscriptions

In his report pointed to eight harmful applications that benefited from increased human interest in cryptocurrency. They pretended to be applications mediating the cloud extraction of cryptocurrencies, in which users could “invest” them.

In reality, however, they flooded users with ads, offering them high subscriptions worth around 10-15 euros for these services, which did not exist. “Mining” only worked in the application’s user interface through a simple simulator.

However, one of the applications went a little further when it directly stated in its conditions that it was only an “educational game” that did not offer the actual extraction of cryptocurrencies. An inexperienced user who did not read the terms could purchase services in this application without knowing that it was just a game.

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Two of the applications were even paid for, so users first had to pay 11 and 6 euros, respectively, to download them. After all applications have been reported, Google has removed them from the Play Store.

Removed fraudulent applications from Google Play:

• BitFunds – Crypto Cloud Mining
• Bitcoin Miner – Cloud Mining
• Bitcoin (BTC) – Pool Mining Cloud Wallet
• Crypto Holic – Bitcoin Cloud Mining
• Daily Bitcoin Rewards – Cloud Based Mining System
• Bitcoin 2021
• MineBit Pro – Crypto Cloud Mining & btc miner
• Ethereum (ETH) – Pool Mining Cloud

However, analysts noted that when searching for applications using the keywords “cloud mining”, they registered a number of applications of a similar type, some of which have more than 100,000 downloads.

What to watch out for when downloading applications?

When downloading any unknown application from Google Play, pay particular attention to reviews that make it easy to detect a fraudulent application. They are often “tagged” with 5-star ratings, which are fake, and their sole purpose is to arouse interest in downloading the application, in contrast to 1-star ratings from users who have come across fraud.

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For cryptomen-related applications, it may also be useful to enter an incorrect crypto-wallet address during registration. If the application accepts it, it is probably a scam.

Attention must also be paid to transaction fees. These are different for different cryptocurrencies, but never zero. If the application offers free cryptocurrency transmission, it may be fraudulent.