These 34 apps can steal your money; Google has removed them, you should too

Several new harmful Android apps have been discovered by researchers which can steal your money. Tech giant Google has reportedly removed around 34 apps between July and September from the Google Play Store because they were inflected by the Joker malware that has been giving Android smartphone users nightmares. The malware is considered hard to detect due to the little code it uses. It also uses a different technique called ‘Dropper’ to bypass Google’s security scan and sneak into the user's device. 

The apps were detected by Zscaler, a cybersecurity firm based in California. You should remove them immediately from phone, if installed. Here is the full list - 

1. All Good PDF Scanner 

2. Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message 

3. Unique Keyboard – Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons 

4. Tangram App Lock 

5. Direct Messenger 

6. Private SMS 

7. One Sentence Translator – Multifunctional Translator 

8. Style Photo Collage 

9. Meticulous Scanner 

10. Desire Translate 

11. Talent Photo Editor – Blur focus 

12. Care Message 

13. Part Message 

14. Paper Doc Scanner 

15. Blue Scanner 

16. Hummingbird PDF Converter – Photo to PDF 

17. All Good PDF Scanner 

18. com.imagecompress.android 

19. com.relax.relaxation.androidsms

20. com.file.recovefiles 

21. com.training.memorygame 

22. Push Message- Texting & SMS 

23. Fingertip GameBox 

24. com.contact.withme.texts 

25. com.cheery.message.sendsms (two different instances) 

26. com.LPlocker.lockapps 

27. Safety AppLock 

28. Emoji Wallpaper 

29. com.hmvoice.friendsms 

30. com.peason.lovinglovemessage 

31. com.remindme.alram 

32. Convenient Scanner 2 

33. Separate Doc Scanner 

What can these app do? 

The malware uses these apps for subscribing to premium services without the knowledge of users. It first simulates interaction with ads without users’ knowledge and then uses the victim’s SMS messages including OTP to initiate payments. The users are totally unaware about the subscription made on their behalf. 

According to Google’s blog post earlier this week, Android’s security team claims that it has taken down around 17,000 apps since the beginning of the year 2017.