Warning for Android users to delete 11 malicious phone apps

Millions of Australians have been directed to immediately delete almost a dozen phone apps that could be charging them money without permission.

Brooke Rolfe

@rolfeb

less than 2 min read

May 20, 2023 - 7:53PM

Popular apps available on Google Play contain malicious malware. Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

Australians have been urged to urgently delete almost a dozen corrupt phone applications that experts have found to be charging unwitting users subscription fees.

Security firm Kaspersky warned of 11 popular apps available on Google Play that purport to be innocent but actually contain malicious malware called Fleckpe.

Apps like Photo Effect Editor and Beauty Slimming Photo Editor were among those found to be highly problematic for Android users.

“Every once in a while, someone will come across malicious apps on Google Play that seem harmless at first,” an article on the Kaspersky SecureList website by developer Dmitry Kalinin read.

“Some of the trickiest of these are subscription Trojans, which often go unnoticed until the user finds they have been charged for services they never intended to buy.

“This kind of malware often finds its way into the official marketplace for Android apps.”