According to online publication BleepingComputer, security researchers from different security companies based in Europe disclosed on Twitter that they found several banking Trojans in Google Play.
Lukas Stefanko of ESET antivirus vendor found three such malicious apps posing as astrology software that offered the horoscope. In reality the fake app stole SMS and call logs and sent text messages in the victim’s name, downloading and installing apps without user approval, and stealing banking credentials.
One of the malicious apps displayed a fake warning saying that it was incompatible and has been removed as a result. However, the malware remained on the device and acted in the background, requesting banking targets based on the apps present on the device.
On August 29, Nikolaos Chrysaidos of Avast shared on Twitter details about a campaign that had distributed the same type of malware since the early days of the month. He uncovered more than five banking Trojans, all disguised as apps that improved the performance of the mobile device.
BleepingComputer reached out to Google for a statement about the banking Trojans discoveries in its Android store but did reply at the moment of publishing.
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