Money-stealing malware found in Google Play Store apps! Remove them NOW

Have you ever found yourself charged for subscriptions on the Google Play Store, which you never purchased? If so, then you could be a victim to subscription Trojans. Google Play Store offers millions of apps for Android users at their disposal for any and all tasks. However, cybercriminals see this as a lucrative opportunity to target innocents to steal their data and even dupe them of their money through malware that is secretly embedded in various apps. Despite Google’s best attempts, some potentially harmful apps often slip under the radar.

Now, a new malware has been discovered in several apps on the Google Play Store which can secretly drain your wallet. Here's what you should know.

Money-stealing malware

According to a report by Kaskpersky, a malware called Fleckpe has been recently discovered on the Google Play Store which has been secretly racking up bills for thousands of people. Security experts at Kaspersky have revealed that Fleckpe has been discreetly embedded into at least 11 apps so far. What's more shocking is that these apps have been downloaded over 620,000 times!

Most of these apps are beauty apps, wallpaper apps, image editors and more.

List of affected apps:

Beauty Camera Plus

Beauty Photo Camera

Beauty Slimming Photo Editor

Fingertip Graffiti

GIF Camera Editor

HD 4K Wallpaper

Impressionism Pro Camera

Microclip Video Editor

Night Mode Camera Pro

Photo Camera Editor

Photo Effect Editor

How does Fleckpe work?

According to Kaspersky, if the app is installed by the victim, the malware will activate a one-time or lifetime subscription to premium services of the app without their knowledge. These premium services may be owned by a third party, with the malware operators receiving a portion of the payment, or they may be owned by the threat actors themselves, allowing them to keep the entire amount.

The report further revealed that the malware had been active since 2022 so it is likely that the cybercriminals have stolen vast sums of money. Most of the victims of this money-stealing malware are located in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Poland, while a small percentage of people can be found all over the world.