No joke: Google advises deleting these 8 Android apps hiding Joker malware
MANILA, Philippines — The Joker is back but not DC's supervillain since news of a sequel to the hit Zack Snyder cut of "Justice League" has yet to be official. It's the malware that wreaked havoc to unsuspecting Android users in 2017.
The so-called spyware caught the attention of Quick Heal Security Labs after it spotted eight apps on Google Play Store. The report was published on its blog in June. Last month, the Belgian Police posted on its website, advising its public to delete said malicious apps unless they want to be surprised with large sums of their money being paid to subscriptions they do not even know about.
These now-deleted apps are:
1. Auxiliary Message
2. Element Scanner
3. Fast Magic SMS
4. Free CamScanner
5. Go Messages
6. Super Message
7. Super SMS
8. Travel Wallpapers
Quick Heal Security Labs said that Google already deleted the apps on Play Store after they had reported its presence on its platform. It also added that they've encountered a similar incident in January this year and they've also reported it to Google.
Quick Heal Security Labs describes Joker as a spyware Trojan that steals the victim’s device like SMS messages, contact list and device info.
"It silently interacts with advertisement websites and subscribes the victim to premium services without their knowledge," it wrote on its blog.
The report said that these malware apps are spread in scanner applications, wallpaper applications and message applications found on the Google Play Store. It highlighted how these types of applications are easy targets. Users are advised to avoid these applications and use apps only from trusted developers.
