Google bans 8 cryptocurrency apps from Play Store: Here’s why

The company said that that there are 120 similar apps still available online. These apps do not have cryptocurrency mining capabilities. Instead, they deceive users into watching in-app ads. 

Google banned as many as eight cryptocurrency apps from its Play Store following a report by cyber security firm Trend Micro published on August 18.

According to the report, cybercriminals exploit netizens’ increased interest in cryptocurrency mining by developing malware and Android apps. 

Advertisement

“We recently discovered eight deceptive mobile apps that masquerade as cryptocurrency cloud mining applications, where users can earn cryptocurrency by investing money into a cloud-mining operation. However, upon analysis, we discovered that these malicious apps only trick victims into watching ads, paying for subscription services that have an average monthly fee of US$15, and paying for increased mining capabilities without getting anything in return. We have reported our findings to Google Play, and the apps have been promptly removed from the Play Store,” the company said in the report.

The apps that were banned are:

  • 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

According to Trend Micro, two of these were paid apps, wherein users had to be $12.99 (approx Rs. 965) to avail of the services.

The company further added that there are 120 similar apps still available online. These apps do not have cryptocurrency mining capabilities. Instead, they deceive users into watching in-app ads. 

The report also mentioned the steps to recognize fake cryptocurrency mining apps:

  1. Carefully read the app’s reviews. Fake apps will receive numerous 5-star reviews once they are released online. Pay more attention to 1-star reviews.
  2. Try to enter an invalid or wrong cryptocurrency wallet address. According to Trend Micro,  if a user encodes an invalid wallet address and the app accepts it and is able to perform follow-up operations, there is a high probability that the app is fraudulent.
  3. Restart the app or phone while it is in the process of mining. If a device is restarted after mining starts and the mining application is killed in the background, the system will forcibly clear the counter, resetting it to zero.
  4. Confirm if there is a withdrawal fee. The transfer of cryptocurrency requires a handling fee, which is relatively high compared to what is typically made from cloud mining. Hence, free withdrawals are very suspicious.