Google Play Apps Mimic Games, Rip Off Users

A Latvian firm has been fined 50,000 British pounds for malicious Android apps and has also been ordered to refund users 28,000 British pounds. The apps were designed to look like Angry Birds, Assassin’s Creed and Cut The Rope franchises, but instead of playing they racked up expensive SMS charges when opened.

“There is a wider issue here. There is malware out there which can gain total access to your phone,” Nitin Lachani of PhonepayPlus said. “A cyber criminal could then deliver apps to your phone which could tap into your phone calls, your messages”

Unlike the App Stores run by Apple and Blackberry, apps submitted to the Google Play store do not go through an approvals process.

Source: BBC