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These days there are so many scam alerts of hackers trying to sneak malicious apps on the legitimate looking app and app store platforms that turn out to be anything but, that app stores have become a kind of digital minefield for consumers. Apps that can drain your bank account, steal your login credentials, and bombard you with malicious ad spam are becoming more prevalent, and barely a week has gone by that we have no more warning to offer people – in terms of who needs to be careful. not to download anything from a new batch of piecemeal apps on their phone.
Avast researchers, meanwhile, came out with a new warning about a different kind of app category to avoid. These are so-called “Fleeceware” apps and, unfortunately, they help developers squeeze hundreds of millions of dollars out of unsuspecting Android and iOS device owners.
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In a new report, Avast researchers explain how they found a total of 204 Fleeceware apps with over one billion downloads and over $ 400 million in revenue from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. “The purpose of these apps,” they write, “is to entice users into a free trial to“ test ”the app, after which they overcharge them with subscriptions that sometimes reach $ 3,432 per year. These apps usually don’t have a unique functionality and are just channels for fleece scams. “
You can check out the names of some of these apps below, but Avast says the bundles it has discovered on both Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store include musical instrument apps, palm readers, image editors, camera filters, fortune teller apps, QR code and PDF readers and “slime simulators”. “It seems part of Fleeceware’s strategy is to target a younger audience through playful themes and eye-catching popular social media ads with promises of ‘free installation’ or ‘free download’,” the Avast report continues. “By the time the parents notice the weekly payments, the polars may have already taken some large sums of money.”
These are the Fleeceware apps on the Apple App Store reported by Avast.
And here are the Fleeceware apps on the Google Play Store identified by Avast.
These apps often come with a three-day free trial period, and most of their subscription costs ranged from $ 4 to $ 12 per week (or $ 208 to $ 624 per year). Here’s how Avast suggests that people can protect themselves from these types of apps:
- Free trial periods of less than a week should attract your suspicion.
- Treat viral ads touting these apps with skepticism.
- And protect your payment methods. In other words, lock your payment methods behind something like biometric verification or a password.
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Andy is a reporter in Memphis who also contributes to media outlets like Fast Company and The Guardian. When he’s not writing about tech, he’s found leaning protectively over his burgeoning vinyl collection, in addition to honing his Whovianism and gorging himself on a variety of TV shows you probably don’t like. not.
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